Future

Everyone has plans, dreams, and worries about what’s coming next. These questions cover everything from personal goals and career plans to bigger questions about technology, society, and how the world might 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. When will you graduate? What are you most looking forward to about finishing?
2. If you want to get married, when do you think that will happen? What do you want to do first?
3. What job do you want in the future? What is good about it?
4. What three things do you want to buy in the next year?
5. Who do you want to spend more time with in the future? What do you want to do together?
6. Do you want to travel in the future? Where do you want to go?
7. What kind of car or transportation will you use in the future? What is good about it?
8. What is one thing you hope will be different about your life next year?
9. Do you think about the future a lot or not very much? What do you usually think about?
10. What is the next big holiday or event in your life? What will you do?

Elementary (A2)

1. How will you use English in the future? Give me some examples.
2. What will you do this weekend? Tell me about your plans.
3. Do you want to get married? Why or why not?
4. Will you have children? Why or why not?
5. After you graduate, will you go for a higher degree like an M.A. or a Ph.D.? Why or why not?
6. What will you do after this class? Do you have any fun plans?
7. What will you do before you get married? What experiences do you want to have first?
8. After your children grow up, what will you do? How will your life change?
9. Where will you be and what will you be doing in 10 years?
10. What is something that will happen in the future that you are looking forward to?
11. What is the biggest thing you want to do before you turn 30? Why that one?
12. Have you ever made a plan for the future that didn’t work out? What happened?
13. What is one thing about the future that worries you? Why does it worry you?
14. What invention would make your future life easier? Why?
15. What is something you are saving money for? Why is it important to you?
16. Are you excited or nervous about the future? Why?

Intermediate (B1)

1. What kind of neighborhood will you live in when you get older?
2. Will humans ever meet aliens? Why or why not?
3. Which sci-fi movie do you think the future will be most like? Why that one?
4. Do you think houses will be more environmentally friendly in the future? How so?
5. Will the climate keep changing or go back to normal? What makes you think so?
6. Will science find a solution to the environmental problems we have? Why or why not?
7. What will life be like when you are 40?
8. Will AI ever take over the world? Why or why not?
9. Will we be able to add machines to our bodies to improve them in the future? Would you want to? Why or why not?
10. How will fashion change in the future?
11. What kind of music will your children listen to? Will it be similar to what you listen to now?
12. When will humans live on another planet? What needs to happen first?
13. How will electronics and technology be different in 20 years? What changes are you most excited about?
14. What other things will change about life in the future?
15. How do you think you will change in the future?
16. How will you change the world?
17. Do you prefer to plan your future carefully or let things happen naturally? Why?
18. Do you think your life will be very different from your parents’ life? Why?
19. Do you think people will eat differently in the future? Give me some examples of what might change.
20. What is something that used to seem impossible but is normal now? What do you think will be the next thing like that?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. What will cities be like 50 years from now?
2. Where will we get our energy when we run out of oil? What are the best alternatives and why?
3. How will the world’s largest countries affect the environment in the future? What changes do you expect?
4. What will happen if we keep polluting the environment?
5. In 50 years there are projected to be 10 billion people on the earth. How will that affect the future?
6. How will medicine and health care change in the future?
7. What will China and India be like in 50 years?
8. How will the rise of remote work change cities and communities over the next 20 years? What will be different about daily life?
9. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using AI to predict and plan your personal future?
10. How do personal expectations about the future differ between people in wealthy countries versus developing countries? What creates these differences?
11. How has social media changed the way young people think about their future? What do you think about those changes?
12. Some people believe technology will solve most of the world’s biggest problems. What are the strongest arguments for and against this idea?
13. How do people’s expectations about the future affect the choices they make today? Can you think of examples from your own life?
14. How has the speed of change affected people’s ability to plan for the future? Is it harder to plan now than it was 50 years ago?
15. In what ways do movies and TV shows shape how people imagine the future? How much do they affect you?
16. Automation and AI are replacing many jobs, but they are also creating new ones. How do people prepare for careers that don’t exist yet, and what does that mean for education systems?
17. Governments often make promises about the future to win elections, but many of those promises take decades to achieve. How does this gap between political timelines and real-world timelines create problems?

Advanced (C1)

1. How does worrying about the future affect the way people live today? What tensions exist between planning ahead and being present?
2. How do technologies for predicting the future — from weather forecasts to genetic testing to AI algorithms — change our relationship with uncertainty? What is gained and lost?
3. Why have humans across all cultures developed rituals and practices around predicting or controlling the future? What needs do these serve beyond practical planning?
4. How might the ability to edit human genes both expand and constrain human diversity in the future? What defines ‘improvement’ and who decides?
5. Every generation thinks the next generation will have it easier or harder. Why is this, and how does that belief shape the way societies invest in young people?
6. Climate scientists say we need to act now, but the worst effects are decades away. Why is it so hard for people and governments to make sacrifices today for problems they won’t personally experience?
7. As more of our daily decisions get made by algorithms — what we watch, what we buy, who we meet — how does this change people’s ability to shape their own future?
8. Throughout history, people have always been both excited and afraid of the future. What is it about the current moment that makes this tension feel especially strong?
9. In many countries, people are having fewer children while life expectancy keeps rising. How will this shift change the relationship between younger and older generations, and who will bear the costs?
10. Thousands of the world’s languages are expected to disappear in the next few decades. What is actually lost when a language dies, and why is it so hard to convince people to care about languages they don’t speak?
11. Cities around the world are becoming more similar — the same stores, the same buildings, the same food chains. What drives this, and what happens to the people whose local culture and businesses get replaced?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions