Family Values

Family values can mean different things across cultures, which makes for rich classroom discussions. These questions explore beliefs about loyalty, respect, responsibility, and how families shape who we are.

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. How many people are in your family? Who are they?
2. What do you do with your family on the weekend? Do you like it?
3. Do you eat dinner together with your family? What do you talk about?
4. What is something your parents always tell you to do? Do you do it?
5. Who is the oldest person in your family? Tell me about them.
6. Who is the funniest person in your family? What do they do that makes you laugh?
7. Does your family have any rules about phones or computers? What are they?
8. Do you have brothers or sisters? What are they like?
9. What does your family do to celebrate good news (birthdays, new job, etc.)?
10. What food does your family always cook for special occasions? Who makes it?

Elementary (A2)

1. What values did your parents pass on to you? How did they teach you those values?
2. Do you live with your family or alone? What’s good about it?
3. Did your family have any special traditions when you were a child? Tell me about it.
4. What’s the best advice a family member has ever given you?
5. Have you ever broken a family rule? What happened?
6. What did your parents want you to be when you grew up? Did you follow that path?
7. How does your family show love (hugs, gifts, cooking, etc.)? What’s your favorite way?
8. What do you and your family disagree about the most? Why?
9. Is there a family member you haven’t seen in a long time? What happened?
10. What values do you share with some of your family members but not other?

Intermediate (B1)

1. What values will you pass on to your children? Why are those values important to you?
2. Do you think society is losing its values? Why or why not?
3. What is a value other people think is very important which you don’t think is important? Why don’t you think it’s important?
4. What values did your parents try to teach you that you had trouble following? Why was it difficult?
5. What traditional values are not important or not necessary now? Why have they become less important?
6. How do you feel when you see someone not following the values you were brought up with?
7. Do you think you were a good child or a difficult child? What makes you say that?
8. What is the biggest mistake parents make with their children? Why do they make it?
9. Should parents control what their teenagers wear? Why or why not?
10. Do you prefer small family gatherings or big ones? What’s good about each?
11. Do you think children should take care of their elderly parents? Why or why not?
12. How do you think birth order (oldest, middle, youngest) affects a person’s values? Give me some examples.
13. If you could change one thing about how your family communicates, what would it be?
14. Some families are very close and do everything together. Others give each person a lot of space. Which do you think is healthier? Why?
15. Should grandparents have a say in how their grandchildren are raised? Why or why not?
16. What makes a person a good parent? What qualities do they need?
17. Do you think strict families or relaxed families produce better children? How so?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. How have values changed in society?
2. How does a society’s values hold it together?
3. Some people say that poorer societies have stronger values than richer countries. Do you agree? Why or why not?
4. How do you think technology has changed the way families spend time together? Is it a good thing or a bad thing?
5. How is the concept of ‘family values’ different across cultures? What accounts for those differences?
6. In many countries, elderly parents move in with their adult children. In other countries, they live alone or go to care homes. What are the upsides and downsides of each?
7. How has the role of fathers in families changed over the past few decades? What do you think about those changes?
8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of parents both working full-time when they have young children?
9. Compare how families today handle discipline versus families 30 years ago. What has changed and why?
10. Some people say that having children is the most important thing a person can do. Others say a meaningful life doesn’t require children. What are the strongest arguments on each side?
11. Compare the benefits and drawbacks of extended families living together versus nuclear families living separately.
12. How has social media changed the relationship between parents and teenagers? What new problems has it created?
13. How does economic pressure affect family values? What changes have you seen in your own community?
14. In some cultures, the whole extended family makes big decisions together (like who to marry or what career to follow). What are the benefits and risks of this approach?
15. Many immigrant families face a tension: the older generation wants to preserve the values and traditions of their home country, while the younger generation wants to fit into the new culture. How does this play out in real life, and what usually happens over time?

Advanced (C1)

1. How do economic systems (capitalism, socialism, etc.) shape what families consider valuable? What tensions exist between market values and family values?
2. In what ways do modern family values simultaneously promote individual freedom and create new forms of pressure? Give me some examples.
3. How might the emphasis on children’s happiness in modern parenting both empower and harm those children as they become adults?
4. In many societies, people are getting married later, having fewer children, and living farther from their relatives. How do these trends affect a country’s economy, its social safety nets, and people’s sense of belonging?
5. Wealthy families often pass down not just money but also connections, education, and ways of thinking. How does this kind of invisible inheritance affect social mobility and fairness across generations?
6. In some cultures, family loyalty means you’re expected to cover for a relative even when they’ve done something wrong. Where should the line be between loyalty to your family and doing what’s right?
7. Many people say they want to raise their children differently from how they were raised, but research shows most parents end up repeating their own parents’ patterns. Why is it so hard to break these cycles, and what does it take to actually do it?
8. As more people choose to live alone, stay single, or create ‘chosen families’ with close friends instead of blood relatives, how might our understanding of what ‘family’ means change in the next few decades?
9. In many families, one generation sacrificed heavily (working long hours, emigrating, giving up personal dreams) so the next generation could have a better life. But the children who benefit often end up with completely different values from the parents who sacrificed for them. Why does this happen, and is it a success or a failure?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions