Online dating is everywhere now, so students usually have opinions or experiences to share. These questions cover apps, safety, cultural differences, and how technology has changed the way people meet and connect.
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)
- Have you ever used a dating app? Was it fun?
- Have you ever heard a good story about two people who met online? Tell me about it.
- Have you ever been on a video call with someone you didn’t know well? How did it go?
- Have you ever been on a first date that came from a dating app? How did it go?
- Do you have any friends who use dating apps? What do they say about it?
- What is the most popular dating app in your country?
- Do you think it is normal to meet someone online? Is it normal in your country?
- What is a ‘dating profile’? What kind of things do people put on it?
- Do your parents or grandparents know about dating apps? What do they think?
- If a friend asked you to help them write a dating profile, what would you tell them to write?
Elementary (A2)
- Do you know anyone who has met their husband or wife online? Tell me about it.
- What are some popular online dating apps or sites in your country? Have you or your friends tried any of them?
- What are some of the most interesting or unique dating apps you have heard of? What makes them different?
- What dating apps are popular in your country? Why do you think people like them?
- Tell me about the first time you heard about online dating.
- What are the three most important things to put on a dating profile? (Photos, hobbies, job, age, etc.)
- Where do people usually go on a first date from a dating app? What is a good place?
- What are three things you should do to stay safe when using dating apps?
- What do people usually say when they first message someone on a dating app? What’s a good thing to write?
- What kind of person do you swipe right on? Why?
- What is the funniest or strangest online dating profile you have ever seen or heard about?
- What happens when someone stops replying to your messages without saying why? How does it feel?
Intermediate (B1)
- Can two people fall in love over the internet without meeting each other first? Why or why not?
- How acceptable is online dating in your country?
- When getting to know someone, is it better to talk with them or text them? What is good about each?
- Do you think that all the tech solutions to dating have made dating easier or more complicated? Why do you think so?
- What is a good age to start dating? Why do you think so?
- Do older people and younger people use dating apps in the same way? What’s different?
- Do you think video dates are better than text chatting? Why?
- What do people lie about most on dating apps? Why do they do that?
- Do you prefer to know a lot about someone before meeting them, or do you like surprises? Why?
- What information should you never share with someone you just met online? Why?
- Do you think a dating profile shows who someone really is? Why?
- Should people use their real photos on dating apps? Why or why not?
- Do you think matching algorithms actually work, or is it just random? How so?
- What do you think is the biggest mistake people make on dating apps? Give me some examples.
- Should dating apps do more to verify people’s identities? Why or why not?
- Should people tell their friends when they are using a dating app? Why or why not?
- If you could design a dating app, what features would it have and what would you do differently from the apps that already exist?
- If a friend told you they were being catfished, what advice would you give them?
- What kinds of information do dating apps collect about you? What do they do with that information?
Upper-Intermediate (B2)
- What are some of the good and bad things about online dating?
- How do you think apps like Tinder have changed online dating?
- Do you think long-distance relationships that start online can work? What makes them succeed or fail?
- How do you think online dating is different for men and women? What challenges does each face?
- Some people think online dating makes people treat each other like products in a store. Do you agree? How so?
- How has online dating changed the way people think about relationships and commitment? What do you think about those changes?
- What are the advantages and disadvantages of dating apps that use algorithms to match people compared to ones where you choose for yourself?
- How is dating app culture different now compared to 10 years ago? What has changed?
- In what ways has online dating affected how people present themselves, not just on apps, but in real life too?
- How do dating apps make money, and how might their business model affect the experience of the people using them?
- Some countries and cultures still have a strong stigma against online dating. What factors do you think keep that stigma alive, and what is causing it to fade in other places?
- What are the risks of catfishing and fake profiles, and what responsibility do dating apps have to protect their users?
- How has the rise of dating apps changed the role that friends and family play in helping people find a partner?
- Compare the experience of dating in a small town versus a big city when using dating apps. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each?
- Online dating has made it possible to have hundreds of options at any time. How might having too many choices actually make it harder to commit to one person?
- In what ways do dating apps both challenge and reinforce traditional gender roles in dating? Give specific examples of each.
Advanced (C1)
- When someone uses old photos or exaggerates on their dating profile, at what point does ‘making yourself look good’ become dishonesty? How do we decide where that line is?
- Dating apps let you filter people by age, height, income, education, and even race. How does giving people this much control over who they see affect the kinds of relationships they end up in?
- In some cultures, families arrange marriages, while in others, people use apps to find their own partners. Both systems claim to lead to lasting relationships. What does each approach assume about love, and which assumptions do you think hold up?
- Dating apps collect enormous amounts of personal data: who you like, who you reject, how long you look at a photo, what you say in messages. What tensions exist between wanting a better match and giving up that much personal information?
- Some people say that ghosting (disappearing without explanation) has become normal because dating apps make people feel replaceable. How has the technology itself changed the way people treat each other?
- AI is now being used to write dating profiles, suggest opening messages, and even predict compatibility. If technology handles more and more of the dating process, what is left that is genuinely ‘you’?
- Dating apps claim to increase access and choice, but some argue they actually reinforce existing social hierarchies and inequality. How might both be true at the same time?
- People often feel more confident being honest through a screen but also find it easier to lie. How does online communication create both more honesty and more deception at the same time?
- People are spending more and more of their lives online: working remotely, socializing through apps, dating through screens. At what point does convenience start to replace the kinds of human connection that only happen face to face?
- Dating apps often show people who are similar to them: same education, same neighborhood, same interests. How might this kind of matching make society more divided even while it makes dating more efficient?
- In many countries, the number of people who are single and living alone is rising fast. How much of this do you think is connected to the way dating apps have changed people’s expectations about relationships?