Secrets

This topic tends to bring out some interesting stories and thoughtful discussions about trust and privacy. Questions range from light personal experiences to deeper conversations about when keeping secrets is helpful or harmful.

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. Can you tell us any of your secrets? Don’t share anything if you aren’t comfortable with sharing.
2. Do you keep a diary or journal? What kinds of things do you write in it?
3. Do you have any secret talents? What can you do?
4. Do you know any secret codes or hand signals? What do they mean?
5. What is a secret recipe or special dish in your family? Who makes it?
6. What is a secret you would love to know? Why?
7. Do you think you are good at keeping secrets or bad at keeping secrets? Why?
8. What are three things you keep secret from your friends?
9. Is there a secret place you like to go when you want to be alone? What is it like?
10. Have you ever found a secret message or hidden note? Tell me about it.

Elementary (A2)

1. Do you like knowing and finding out secrets? Why?
2. Are you good at keeping secrets? Why or why not?
3. What is something that lots of people dislike but you secretly love? Why do you like it so much?
4. What is a well-known secret?
5. Do you know any secrets about celebrities? Tell me about one.
6. Who is the best person to tell a secret to? What makes them so trustworthy?
7. What is the biggest secret you have ever kept for someone? Tell me about it.
8. Where is a good place to hide something secret? Why there?
9. When you were a child, did you have any secret hiding places? Where were they?
10. If someone told you a secret right now, who would you most want to tell? Why?
11. Are there any secret spots in your city that tourists don’t know about? What are they like?
12. Have you ever accidentally told someone else’s secret? What happened?
13. What kinds of secrets do friends usually keep from each other? Why do they hide those things?
14. Have you ever found out a secret that you wish you didn’t know? What was it about?
15. Have you ever kept a surprise party or surprise gift secret? How did you manage to keep it?
16. What is the longest you have ever kept a secret? What was it about?
17. Have you ever guessed someone’s secret before they told you? What gave it away?
18. Is there a movie or TV show where a big secret changes everything? What is the secret?
19. How do secret family recipes get passed down in your culture? What makes them special?

Intermediate (B1)

1. Should governments keep secrets from their people? Why or why not?
2. What kinds of secrets do you think your government has?
3. Should husbands and wives keep secrets from each other? Why or why not?
4. Should parents keep secrets from their children? If yes, what kind of secrets? If no, why not?
5. What kinds of secrets are dangerous?
6. Do you prefer hearing secrets or sharing secrets? Why?
7. What is the hardest part about keeping a big secret? What makes it so difficult?
8. What is a secret ingredient that makes food taste better? Why do you think it works?
9. Do you think keeping secrets is a sign of maturity or dishonesty? How so?
10. Should doctors be allowed to keep medical secrets from their patients? Why or why not?
11. If a friend asked you to keep a secret that could hurt someone else, what would you do? Why?
12. Should friends always be honest with each other, even if the truth hurts? Why or why not?
13. Do you think it is ever okay to go through someone’s phone without asking? Why or why not?
14. Some people say that keeping secrets is bad for your health because of the stress. Do you agree? Why or why not?
15. Do you think children should be told the truth about things like Santa Claus, or is it okay to let them believe? Why or why not?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. What is the difference between a secret and a lie? Is keeping a secret the same as being dishonest?
2. If you found out a coworker was doing something wrong, would you keep it a secret or report it? What would influence your decision?
3. How has social media changed the way people keep or share secrets? Give me some examples.
4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having complete transparency in the workplace?
5. Compare how children and adults understand the concept of secrets. What are the key differences?
6. How do secrets affect trust in romantic relationships? Consider both keeping and sharing them.
7. What role do secrets play in maintaining power in organizations, governments, or families? How often have you seen this in your own life?
8. How is keeping secrets different across cultures? What do you think causes those differences?
9. What are the psychological effects of keeping a major secret for a long time? Do you think it’s always harmful?
10. Compare the way privacy and secrecy are treated in your country today versus 20 years ago. What has caused those changes?
11. Some people argue that celebrities and public figures have no right to privacy. Others say everyone deserves a private life. What are the strongest arguments on each side?
12. How do trade secrets and intellectual property laws affect competition between companies? Are these laws fair to both big and small businesses?
13. When people share secrets on social media, at what point does ‘sharing your life’ become ‘violating someone else’s privacy’?

Advanced (C1)

1. Why do organizational cultures often punish whistleblowers despite claiming to value honesty and integrity?
2. How has the shift from local communities to digital networks changed the social consequences of exposed secrets?
3. Why does corporate secrecy around pricing, wages, and algorithms persist in economies that claim to value market transparency?
4. How do professional obligations to maintain confidentiality (doctors, lawyers, therapists) both protect individual rights and enable institutional abuses?
5. Throughout history, secret societies and underground movements have played important roles in political change. Why do people form secret groups, and how do secrecy and power tend to influence each other?
6. When someone uses makeup, filters, or cosmetic surgery, they are keeping parts of their real appearance secret. At what point does ‘improving your look’ become ‘hiding who you really are,’ and who gets to decide?
7. Medical research sometimes depends on keeping study participants in the dark about whether they are receiving real treatment or a placebo. How do the needs of science and the rights of the individual come into conflict here, and how should this be handled?
8. Family secrets, about adoption, illness, finances, or past mistakes, often come out eventually. When long-hidden truths are finally revealed, how do they tend to reshape family relationships, and is the damage from the secret usually worse than the original truth?
9. Some cultures treat personal matters as strictly private, while others see openness as a sign of trust and closeness. How do these different attitudes toward secrecy and sharing shape the way people build relationships, do business, and resolve conflicts?
10. Governments and intelligence agencies often classify information for decades, and by the time it becomes public, the people involved may no longer be alive. How does this delay between secrecy and disclosure affect accountability, and does the public’s right to know outweigh a government’s right to secrecy?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions