Individuality

Individuality is a great topic for getting students to think about identity and self-expression. These questions explore everything from personal style to conformity and standing out in different social contexts.

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. If you had to change your hair color, what color would you choose? Why that color?
2. If you had to do one crazy thing to your appearance, what would you do? How do you think your friends or family would react?
3. If you got a tattoo, what would it be and why? Where on your body would you put it?
4. Do you like to wear colorful clothes or plain clothes? What’s good about each?
5. Who is the most individual person you know? Tell me about them.
6. What is something you are really good at? How often do you do it?
7. Do you like to be alone sometimes or do you always want to be with people? What do you usually do?
8. What kind of music do you listen to that your friends don’t like?
9. Do you have something in your room that shows your personality? What is it?
10. What is one thing you own that nobody else you know has?

Elementary (A2)

1. What makes you unique?
2. What are some things you do to blend in?
3. Do you have a nickname? How did you get it?
4. What three words describe your personality? Give me some examples of when you act that way.
5. Are you more like your mother or your father? How?
6. Have you ever changed something about yourself to fit in better? What did you change?
7. What is the most unusual hobby or interest you have? How did you get into it?
8. Have you ever dressed very differently from everyone else at an event? What happened?
9. What is something you used to like that you don’t like anymore? Why did you stop?
10. What is something your friends all like that you don’t? Why don’t you like it?
11. Do people in your family have similar personalities or is everyone very different? How so?
12. When you were younger, did you want to be like someone famous? Who was it and why?
13. Have you ever been criticized for being different? How did you handle it?

Intermediate (B1)

1. Is it okay to look different from other people or should you look the same?
2. What do you think when you see someone who looks very different from everyone else? How do people in your country usually react?
3. If you went to a job interview with green hair, what would happen?
4. If you see someone with a lot of tattoos what do you think of them?
5. Have you ever felt like a square peg in a round hole?
6. Do you follow trends or do you prefer to do your own thing? Why?
7. Should schools allow students to wear whatever they want? Why or why not?
8. Do you think people become more or less individual as they get older? Why do you think so?
9. What do you think are the benefits of being different from other people? Give me some examples.
10. If you could change one thing about the way people judge each other, what would it be?
11. Is it harder to be yourself at work or at school than it is with friends? How so?
12. Do you think social media makes people more similar to each other or more unique? Give me some examples.
13. If everyone in the world had the same opinions and interests, would life be easier or more boring?
14. What makes someone a good leader: following what everyone else thinks, or standing up for their own ideas? Why do you think so?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. What do you think is more important: fitting in with the people around you or being true to yourself? Is it common to feel that conflict in your culture?
2. How does social media affect the way people express their individuality? What do you think about those changes?
3. What are the implications of everyone trying to be unique? Does it create a new kind of conformity?
4. How has the concept of individuality changed over the past 20 years? How much do these changes affect you?
5. Compare how individuality is expressed in the workplace versus in personal life. Why do you think there is such a difference?
6. How does the pressure to fit in during the teenage years affect people later in life? Can you think of any examples?
7. In what ways can fashion be a form of self-expression, and at what point does it become just copying others?
8. Some people say that true individuality is disappearing because of globalization. What evidence would you point to on both sides of that argument?
9. How do different education systems around the world encourage or limit students’ ability to think independently? What can be done to improve that?
10. When someone goes against the majority opinion at work or in a social group, what are the possible consequences, both positive and negative?
11. What role does individuality play in creativity and innovation? How often have you seen this connection in your own experience?
12. When someone chooses a unique career path that disappoints their family, how should they balance being true to themselves with respecting family expectations?
13. Creative people, musicians, artists, writers, often say they want to be original, but they are always influenced by the people who came before them. Where is the line between being inspired by someone and just copying them?

Advanced (C1)

1. Many cultures celebrate individuality in theory but reward conformity in practice, in schools, workplaces, and social groups. Why does this gap exist, and is it possible to close it?
2. When people from minority groups express their individuality, they are sometimes celebrated and sometimes punished for the same behavior. What determines which reaction they get?
3. Brands and advertisers constantly tell people to ‘be yourself’ and ‘stand out from the crowd,’ but they are really selling mass-produced products. How does this contradiction shape the way people think about individuality?
4. Some people argue that true individuality is impossible because every person is shaped by their culture, family, and experiences. How much of who you are is really ‘yours,’ and how much is just the environment you grew up in?
5. In many countries, political and social movements ask people to identify strongly with a group like a party, a cause, or a community. How does this group loyalty create tension with personal individuality?
6. Children are taught to follow rules and respect authority, but as adults they are expected to think for themselves and make independent decisions. How does this shift happen, and does the way we raise children make it harder or easier?
7. When does ‘being yourself’ shift from authentic self-expression to a performance for others? What role does social media play in blurring this distinction?
8. How do generational shifts in values around individuality create friction in families and workplaces? What underlying assumptions about identity drive these conflicts?
9. People often say they want to be treated as individuals, but when they actually receive very different treatment from others, different rules, different expectations, they sometimes feel uncomfortable or like they are treated unfairly. What creates this tension between wanting to be seen as unique and wanting to be treated equally?
10. Technology now lets people create highly personalized worlds like custom news feeds, algorithm-chosen music, curated social circles. Is this making people more individual, or is it just narrowing what they are exposed to? What are the long-term effects of living in a world built around your existing preferences?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions