Change

Questions are organized by level from beginner to advanced. A printable PDF of all the questions is available at the bottom of the page.

Beginner (A1-A2)

1. Have you ever moved to a new home? Tell me about it.
2. What is something about you that has changed? Tell me about it.
3. Who is someone in your life that has changed a lot? What is different about them?
4. Do you like changing your hairstyle or clothes style? What do you usually change?
5. Has your city or town changed a lot? What is different now?
6. What is something in your home that you want to change? What would you change it to?
7. What season changes your mood the most? How does it make you feel?
8. What food did you not like before but you like now? What changed?
9. Do you like to try new things or do you prefer what you already know? Give me an example.
10. What is something about your school or work that is different from last year? Do you like the change?
11. Has anyone in your family changed their job? Tell me about it.
12. What is one thing about yourself that will never change? Why?

Elementary (A2)

1. Do you change your phone often or keep the same one? What’s good about your choice?
2. Do you change your mind easily or do you usually stick with your decision? Give me an example.
3. What is one thing about your daily routine you would like to change? What stops you?
4. Have you ever changed your job or school? Why did you make that change?
5. Have you ever changed your mind about someone you didn’t like at first? What happened?
6. What is a change in technology that has affected your daily life? How do you use it?
7. What is a change in your country that you have noticed in recent years? How do you feel about it?
8. What is something about yourself you have tried to change? Why did you want to change it?
9. Is there a habit you would like to start or stop? Why?
10. What is the hardest change you have ever made? What made it so difficult?
11. What is one thing about your culture or country that you hope never changes? What is so special about it?

Intermediate (B1)

1. Are you someone who likes change, or do you prefer things to stay the same? Why?
2. In what ways have you changed since you were in junior high school?
3. How do you think you will change in the future?
4. What are the biggest changes in the world you have seen since you were a child?
5. What is the most positive change you have experienced in your life?
6. Do you prefer big changes or small changes? Why?
7. Do you think people change more when they are young or when they are older? Why?
8. Do you prefer a job that is the same every day or a job that changes a lot? Why?
9. When something changes at school or work, do you get used to it quickly or slowly? Why do you think that is?
10. Do you think it’s better to plan for change or just deal with it when it happens? Why or why not?
11. Should people make big changes quickly or slowly? Why or why not?
12. What do you think makes some people afraid of change? Give me some examples.
13. If you could change one thing about your personality, what would it be and why?
14. Should schools teach students how to deal with change? Why or why not?
15. Do you think people change more because of good experiences or bad experiences? Give me some examples.

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. Which political party in your country is most likely to make big changes? Is that a good or bad thing?
2. “The only thing constant is change.” Do you agree with this statement? Explain.
3. What is the biggest change most people experience in their lives?
4. Is change good or bad for a person’s mental health?
5. “You are the same person you were 5 years ago except for the books you have read, the people you have met, and the places you have traveled.” Do you think this quote is accurate? What would you add to or remove from the list?
6. Do you think social media has changed the way people communicate for better or worse? How so?
7. How do you think climate change will affect daily life in the future? What are you most worried about?
8. How has the relationship between work and personal life changed over the past few decades? What do you think about those changes?
9. How do people usually react when big changes happen at work or school? What helps them adapt or makes it harder?
10. What role does fear play in preventing people from making positive changes? How can people overcome that fear?
11. Is it better for a society to change quickly or to preserve traditions? What are the trade-offs of each approach?
12. What factors determine whether a person will successfully adapt to major life changes? How much of it is personality versus circumstances?
13. How has the way people learn and access information changed with the internet? What has been gained and what has been lost?
14. How does the speed of change in modern life compare to previous generations? What are the advantages and disadvantages of things changing so quickly?
15. When a country goes through a major political or economic change, how does it affect ordinary people’s daily lives? Can you think of any examples?
16. Compare how older generations and younger generations deal with change. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach?
17. What happens to a neighborhood or community when it changes rapidly, for example, through gentrification or a population boom? Who benefits and who loses?
18. When people move to a new country, they often change some of their habits but keep others. What decides which habits stay and which ones go?

Advanced (C1)

1. Some people say we need to ‘disrupt’ everything from education to business to make progress. Others say we should change things slowly and carefully. What gets lost when each side is too extreme?
2. Why do societies often resist changes that would clearly benefit most people? What forces keep harmful systems in place?
3. When does adapting to change become just accepting things we should be fighting against? How can people tell the difference?
4. What role does nostalgia play in political and social movements? When is looking backward productive, and when does it prevent necessary progress?
5. Why do individuals often change their personal lives more easily than societies change their institutions, even when both face similar problems?
6. Governments and companies often talk about the need for change, but many of the changes they make end up keeping things mostly the same. Why does this happen, and how can people tell the difference between real change and just the appearance of change?
7. Every generation believes it is living through the most important period of change in history. Is this just human nature, or is the change happening now genuinely different from the past?
8. Social media has made it easier than ever to call for change, but has it actually made change happen faster, or has it just made people feel like they are doing something?
9. Children are often told to follow rules, but adults are told to think for themselves and challenge the status quo. How does this shift happen, and does it create problems when people are suddenly expected to drive change after years of being told to accept it?
10. When a new technology like AI or smartphones changes one part of life, it usually changes other parts too: jobs, relationships, education, even laws. Think of a recent technology that has changed your life. How many areas has it affected, and were all those changes expected?
11. Small everyday changes, like more people working from home, ordering food through apps, or shopping online, can eventually reshape entire cities, industries, and social habits. What is one small change in daily life you have noticed that seems to be having much bigger effects than people expected?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions