Dreams are universal but deeply personal, which makes this a great topic for getting students to open up. These questions range from simple sleep habits to deeper discussions about meaning, culture, and the unconscious mind.
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)
- How often do you dream? What are your dreams usually like?
- Do you dream in color or black and white? Do you notice other details like sounds or smells?
- Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning? How many dreams do you remember in a week?
- What do you usually dream about? (Work, family, adventures, etc.)
- Do you have the same dream more than once? What is it about?
- What time do you usually go to sleep? How long does it usually take you to fall asleep?
- Where do your dreams usually take place? Is it somewhere you know or somewhere new?
- Do you ever dream about food? What kind of food shows up in your dreams?
- Do you ever have dreams about being late or unprepared for something important? What usually happens?
- Do you ever dream about famous people or characters from movies? Who?
- What is the best time of day for a nap? How long do you like to sleep?
Elementary (A2)
- Have you ever had a flying dream? What was it like?
- Have you ever been falling in a dream and just when you are about to hit the ground you wake up?
- Have you ever woken up from a dream and couldn’t move? What happened?
- Have you ever kept a dream journal? If not, do you think it would be interesting to try?
- Have you ever experienced déjà vu, the feeling that something has happened before? What was that like?
- Do you prefer to sleep in complete darkness or with some light? Why?
- Who is usually in your dreams? Why?
- Do you ever talk in your sleep? Has anyone told you about it?
- Have you ever had a dream that made you laugh when you woke up? What happened?
- What do you do when you can’t fall asleep? Why does it help?
- Have you ever tried to go back to sleep to continue a good dream? How did it go?
- What do you usually do right after you wake up from a bad dream? How long does it take you to feel normal again?
Intermediate (B1)
- Do you think dreams have meanings? Why or why not?
- Do you think dreams can tell the future? Has a dream of yours ever come true?
- What was the best or worst dream you can remember? Don’t share your dream if it’s too personal or too intense.
- Why do we forget dreams so quickly?
- Do you think animals dream too? What kind of dreams do you think they have?
- What does your country’s culture traditionally believe about dreams?
- Do you like dreaming or do you prefer sleeping without dreams? What’s good about each?
- What kinds of dreams do you have when you’re sick or have a fever? Why do you think they’re different?
- Do you think you dream more when you are stressed or when you are relaxed? Why?
- Do you dream more in your first language or in English? Why do you think that is?
- Should people try to control their dreams? Why or why not?
- Do you think it’s possible to learn new things while you sleep? Why or why not?
- Do you think nightmares serve any useful purpose, or are they just unpleasant? Why or why not?
- If you could choose what to dream about every night, what would you pick and why?
- Do you think people who remember their dreams are different from people who don’t? How so?
- Do you think watching scary movies or reading before bed changes what you dream about? Give me some examples.
- What do you think is the most common dream that people all around the world share? Why do you think so many people have it?
Upper-Intermediate (B2)
- Why do we dream? What is the purpose of them?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of taking medication to help you sleep?
- How do stress and anxiety affect the quality and content of dreams? How often have you experienced this?
- What role do dreams play in creativity and problem-solving? Can you think of any examples?
- What are the psychological effects of chronic sleep deprivation? How much do they affect you?
- How do sleep patterns differ across age groups? What factors contribute to these differences?
- How has the internet changed the way people share, interpret, and think about their dreams? What do you think about those changes?
- Compare how dreams are used in movies versus how people actually experience them. What do filmmakers get right and wrong?
- How do you think childhood dreams differ from adult dreams, and what might that tell us about how the mind changes over time?
- In what ways do different cultures interpret the same types of dreams differently? What might explain those differences?
Advanced (C1)
- How might the growing popularity of dream-tracking apps and sleep technology simultaneously improve our understanding of the mind and reduce the personal, spiritual significance people attach to their dreams?
- To what extent do cultural narratives about dreams, from ancient prophecy traditions to modern psychology, shape how individuals actually experience and remember their own dreams?
- What tensions exist between neuroscience’s view of dreams as random brain activity and the deeply held human need to find meaning in our experiences, including our dreams?
- How do the politics, economics, and social conditions of a society influence the collective dreams and anxieties that show up in its literature, art, and popular culture?
- In what ways might the commercialization of sleep, from supplements to smart mattresses to sleep retreats, reflect broader societal tensions between productivity, wellness, and authenticity?
- How might our understanding of consciousness change if scientists were able to record and replay dreams, and what ethical dilemmas would that create?
- Why have dreams played such a central role in religious traditions, artistic movements, and psychological theories throughout human history? What does this tell us about the human mind?
- How do power dynamics and social hierarchies influence whose dreams are taken seriously in a society, for example, the dreams of leaders versus ordinary people, or adults versus children?
- To what extent does the language someone speaks shape the way they dream, remember dreams, and talk about dreaming? How might bilingual or multilingual people experience this differently?
- How might the increasing medicalization of sleep and dreaming, treating nightmares with drugs, using therapy to change dream patterns, alter our relationship with the unconscious parts of our minds?