Choices

Everyone makes choices every day, from simple preferences to life-changing decisions. These questions explore how we decide, what influences our choices, and those moments when picking the right path isn’t easy.

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. What do you usually order at a restaurant? Do you order the same thing every time?
2. Who helps you make important decisions? What do they usually say?
3. Do you like to plan your day or just see what happens? What does a normal day look like for you?
4. What is your favorite thing to do on a free day? (Stay home, go out, visit friends, etc.) How do you usually spend it?
5. When you buy clothes, do you pick what looks good or what feels comfortable? What are some good ones you have?
6. Have you ever had to choose between two friends or two activities? What did you do?
7. When you pick a movie or TV show to watch, how do you decide? Do you read reviews or just pick something?
8. How do you make important decisions? Do you trust your gut feeling or do you make lists of pros and cons?
9. Have you ever made a choice that surprised your family or friends? What did you choose?
10. Do you find it easy or difficult to choose what to wear every day? How long does it take you?

Elementary (A2)

1. Would you rather have a Mac or a PC? Why do you prefer that one?
2. Would you rather take a trip to a new country or get a new TV? Why?
3. What’s the hardest choice you’ve ever had to make? Tell me about it.
4. Do you like to make quick decisions or do you like to think about things for a long time? What’s good about that?
5. What are three things you think about when you choose a new phone? Which one is most important?
6. What do you do when you can’t decide between two things? Why?
7. Have you ever regretted a choice you made? What happened?
8. What’s the best decision you’ve made in the last year? What’s good about it?
9. What is something you used to like as a child but don’t like anymore? Why did you stop liking it?
10. What is the worst choice you have ever made when shopping? What went wrong?
11. Have you ever had to choose between what you want and what your family wants? How did you decide what to do?
12. Have you ever made a choice that everyone around you disagreed with? What happened and how did it turn out?

Intermediate (B1)

1. Would you rather live in your home country or live abroad? Why?
2. Would you rather be smart or beautiful? What are the advantages of each?
3. Would you rather be poor and happy or rich and unhappy? Why?
4. Would you rather marry someone who is average-looking with a great personality, or someone beautiful without much personality? Why?
5. If war broke out in your country, would you rather flee or stay and fight? Why?
6. Would you rather be rich or famous? What is good about each?
7. If you had to lose one of your senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, or taste), which would you choose to lose? Why that one?
8. Would you rather marry a rich celebrity or a rich CEO? What would be different about each lifestyle?
9. Do you prefer to have many options or just a few options when you make a choice? Why?
10. When you travel, do you plan everything in advance or do you decide things when you arrive? Why do you prefer that?
11. Do you prefer to save your money or spend it right away? Why?
12. Should parents choose their children’s careers? Why or why not?
13. What do you think is the most important factor when choosing where to live? Give me some examples of how it matters.
14. Should schools let students choose all their own classes or should there be required subjects? Why or why not?
15. What makes some choices more difficult than others? Give me some examples from your own life.
16. Should companies be allowed to use personal data to help people make choices, like recommending products? Why or why not?
17. Should people always be honest, even when the truth might hurt someone’s feelings? Why or why not?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. Do you think it’s better to make decisions quickly or to take your time? What are the downsides of each?
2. Do you think it is better to follow your passion or choose a career that pays well? What are the downsides of each?
3. How has social media changed the way people make choices about what to buy, where to travel, or how to live? What do you think about those changes?
4. How is making choices as an adult different from making choices as a child or teenager? What factors make the difference?
5. When you’ve made a major life decision, like choosing a career or moving to a new place, how did you know it was the right choice? How much do you rely on logic versus emotion?
6. What role does regret play in how people make future decisions? How much should we let past mistakes influence new choices?
7. Some people believe that every choice we make is shaped by our culture and upbringing, not real free will. How much do you think your background influences your decisions?
8. How is choosing a career today different from choosing a career 30 years ago? What makes it harder or easier now?
9. When companies offer free trials, loyalty programs, or limited-time deals, how do these strategies affect the choices consumers make? Are consumers really choosing freely?
10. In some cultures, families make big decisions together, while in others, individuals are expected to choose for themselves. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each approach?
11. How do governments balance giving people freedom to make their own choices with protecting them from harmful ones? Think about things like seatbelt laws, smoking bans, or junk food taxes.
12. People often say ‘follow your heart’ when making big decisions, but emotions can lead to bad choices. How do people balance logic and feelings when the stakes are high, and does the right balance depend on the type of decision?
13. Traditions and cultural expectations often guide people’s biggest life decisions — who to marry, what career to follow, where to live. When someone breaks from tradition to make their own choice, what do they gain and what do they risk losing?

Advanced (C1)

1. Modern life gives people more choices than ever before — in careers, relationships, lifestyles, and identities. But many people report feeling more anxious and less satisfied. Why might more freedom to choose actually make people unhappier?
2. When someone grows up in poverty, how much do their early experiences shape the choices they make as adults? At what point does personal responsibility take over from circumstances?
3. Algorithms now recommend what we watch, read, buy, and even who we date. As these systems get better at predicting what we want, are we still really making our own choices, or are we just following suggestions?
4. In many countries, young people are expected to choose a career path by age 18, but brain research shows that decision-making skills are not fully developed until the mid-twenties. How should society handle this mismatch?
5. Some choices that seem purely personal — like what to eat, what to drive, or how many children to have — actually have large effects on the environment and society. Where should the line be between personal freedom and collective responsibility?
6. Medical technology now allows people to make choices that were impossible a generation ago — genetic testing before birth, life support decisions, experimental treatments. How do these new options create new dilemmas that people are not prepared for?
7. Why do societies that celebrate individual choice still maintain strong informal pressures about education, career, and family choices? How do these contradictions function?
8. How do default options in systems (organ donation, retirement savings, privacy settings) shape behavior while preserving the appearance of choice? What are the ethical implications of this kind of choice architecture?
9. Many people say they want work-life balance, but in practice they keep choosing to work longer hours, check emails on vacation, and skip time with family. Why do people consistently make choices that go against what they say they value, and what does this gap tell us about how modern economies actually work?
10. When politicians, advertisers, and news outlets describe the same situation using different words — ‘freedom fighters’ versus ‘terrorists,’ ‘tax relief’ versus ‘tax cuts for the wealthy’ — how does the language around a choice change what people actually decide? Why is it so hard to see past the framing?
11. Each generation seems to judge the next generation’s choices — about careers, relationships, money, technology — as worse or lazier than their own. But every generation faces different economic realities and social pressures. Why do older people struggle to see that younger people’s choices make sense for the world they actually live in?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions