Kindness

Kindness sounds simple, but the questions here go a lot deeper than ‘be nice.’ Students end up discussing everything from why people help strangers to whether capitalism makes kindness harder. Works well across levels because everyone has a personal experience to share, but the topic also opens up genuine debate.

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. Have you ever helped a stranger? Tell me about it.
2. Are people in your neighborhood friendly and kind? What do they do?
3. Are you kind to animals? What do you do for them?
4. What is something kind you could say to make someone smile? Do you say things like that often?
5. What is a kind thing people do at your school or workplace? How does it make you feel?
6. Do you think it is important to be kind? Why?
7. What is a kind thing you do for your family? How often do you do it?
8. What is a small act of kindness you could do today? Who would you do it for?
9. Do you hold the door open for people? What other small polite things do you do?
10. What is a small kind thing that makes your day better?
11. Have you ever received a compliment that really made your day? What did the person say?

Elementary (A2)

1. What is the kindest thing anyone has ever done for you? What made it so special?
2. Do you think you are a kind person? What kind things do you do for others?
3. Who is the kindest person you know? What makes them so kind?
4. Do people in your country greet strangers on the street? How do they do it?
5. What do you usually do when you see someone who looks sad or upset?
6. Have you ever felt too shy or embarrassed to offer help to someone? What stopped you?
7. Have you ever been in a bad mood and someone did something kind that changed how you felt? Tell me about it.
8. Have you ever felt jealous when someone else was praised for being kind? Tell me about it.
9. Have you ever done something kind and nobody noticed? How did that feel?
10. When someone is kind to you, do you usually try to do something kind back? Why?
11. What is the kindest thing you have ever done for someone? Why did you do it?
12. Have you ever done something kind and then regretted it? What happened?

Intermediate (B1)

1. Do you like helping people or do you prefer to be alone? What’s good about each?
2. What is the kindest thing you have ever seen a stranger do for someone else? Why do you think they did it?
3. Do you prefer to give money to homeless people directly, or do you prefer to donate to a charity? Why?
4. Do you prefer to give gifts or do kind things for people? Why?
5. Do you think people are naturally kind, or do they need to learn how to be kind? What makes you think so?
6. Do you think social media encourages people to be kinder, or does it make people meaner? How so?
7. Should people help others even when they don’t have much themselves? Why or why not?
8. Do you think men and women show kindness in different ways? Is it common in your culture to see that difference?
9. What do you think motivates people to do volunteer work? Do you think the reasons matter?
10. Some people say kindness is a weakness in the business world. Do you agree? How so?
11. If you saw a stranger who needed help on the street, what would you do? Does it depend on the situation?
12. Should you always be kind, even to people who are rude to you? Why or why not?

Upper-Intermediate (B2)

1. Is it possible to be too kind? What are the downsides of being an extremely kind person?
2. Do you think it is getting easier or harder for people to be kind to strangers in big cities? What do you think is driving that change?
3. How do you think the way we treat people online compares to how we treat them in person? What causes the difference?
4. Do you think workplaces today do enough to encourage employees to treat each other with kindness and respect? What could be done to improve that?
5. How do movies, TV shows, and books tend to portray kindness? Do you think these portrayals are realistic?
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of always putting other people’s needs before your own?
7. Some companies build their brand around being kind or giving back. How much of that do you think is genuine, and how much is marketing?
8. How does being kind to yourself compare to being kind to others? Which one do people generally find harder, and why?
9. How is the way young people show kindness different from the way older generations show it? What do you think caused those differences?
10. Research shows that people are more likely to be kind when they are being watched. What does that tell us about human nature?

Advanced (C1)

1. How do poverty and economic inequality affect people’s ability and willingness to be kind? Do you think kindness is a luxury?
2. Why do people often find it easier to be kind to people they see as ‘in their group,’ like family, community, nation, than to outsiders? What does this reveal about human nature?
3. Some people argue that modern capitalism rewards competition and self-interest, making it structurally harder to be kind. Do you think the economic systems we live in shape how kind people can afford to be?
4. In many countries, there is a growing ‘random acts of kindness’ movement, people paying for strangers’ coffee, leaving kind notes in public. Why do you think this movement emerged when it did, and what does its popularity say about what people feel is missing from modern life?
5. How do you think the constant stream of bad news affects people’s willingness and ability to be kind?
6. Kindness toward animals, the environment, and future generations is often treated very differently from kindness toward people we can see. Why do you think it is so much harder for humans to extend kindness beyond what is immediately visible?
7. Some workplaces now have policies that require employees to be positive and kind at all times. How might forcing kindness change what kindness actually means in those environments?
8. Parents often tell children to be kind, but children also quickly learn that kind people sometimes get taken advantage of. How do families and schools navigate teaching kindness without teaching people to be pushovers?
9. In politics, leaders who are seen as too kind are sometimes called weak, while those who are tough are sometimes admired even when they are cruel. What does this tell us about what societies actually value versus what they say they value?
10. Technology makes it easier to be kind to people far away through donations and online support, but some people say it has made us less kind to the people right next to us. Is there a trade-off between global kindness and local kindness?
11. Some people are naturally kind while others have to make a conscious effort. If the result is the same, does it matter whether kindness comes naturally or is something a person has to work at?

PDF: Download a PDF of all the questions