Everyone has something they’re good at, which makes this a great topic for getting quieter students to open up. These questions cover natural abilities, learned skills, and what it takes to get better at something.
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)
- What is one thing you are really good at? What does that look like when you do it?
- Do you have a hobby that you practice a lot? What do you do when you practice?
- Who is the most talented person in your family? What can they do?
- Did someone in your life teach you a skill when you were young? What did they teach you?
- Do you prefer working with your hands or working on a computer? What kind of things do you make or do?
- Have you ever tried to learn a skill and given up? What happened?
- Have you ever watched someone do a skill so well that it looked easy? What were they doing?
- Have you ever surprised yourself by being good at something? Tell me about it.
- What are four skills you use every day? (Cooking, driving, typing, etc.)
- What is a skill or talent you think is really cool? Have you ever tried it?
- Are you good at any sports or games? Which ones?
- Can you do anything creative like drawing, singing, or playing an instrument? How often do you do it?
Elementary (A2)
- What is a skill you would love to learn? (Dancing, cooking, a sport, a language, etc.) Why does it interest you?
- What is the most useless skill you have? How did you learn it?
- What is something you are not good at but wish you were? Why do you want to get better at it?
- What is the most impressive skill you have ever seen someone do in real life? What made it so impressive?
- What is a skill that you were bad at first but got better at? How did you improve?
- Are there any skills that are popular in your country but not common in other countries? What are they?
- Is there a skill you started learning but stopped? What happened?
- What is something that looks easy but is actually very hard to do? Why is it so hard?
- What is one thing you do better now than you did five years ago? Why did you get better?
- What skill do you wish your parents had taught you when you were young? Why that one?
Intermediate (B1)
- Is it easier for you to learn physical skills (sports, dance, crafts) or mental skills (languages, math, music)? What’s good about each?
- What skills do you think are most useful in everyday life? Why?
- Do you prefer to learn new skills alone or with other people? Why?
- Should schools teach children skills like cooking, budgeting, and home repair alongside academic subjects? Why or why not?
- Do you think natural talent or hard work matters more when it comes to becoming truly excellent at something? What makes you think so?
- If you could instantly become an expert at any skill, what would you choose and why? How would it change your life?
- Do you think it is ever too late to learn a new skill? Why or why not?
- What do you think makes someone a good teacher of a skill? Is that different from being good at the skill yourself?
- Do you think people who are very talented have a responsibility to use their talents? Why or why not?
- Some people say that 10,000 hours of practice can make anyone an expert. Do you agree? Why or why not?
- What is a skill that used to be common but is slowly disappearing? Why do you think fewer people learn it now?
- How is learning a skill as an adult different from learning it as a child? Have you experienced that difference yourself?
- Some people believe that great skill without passion is wasted. Do you agree, or can you be highly productive at something you don’t love? Why do you think so?
Upper-Intermediate (B2)
- Some people spend years mastering one skill, while others prefer to be good at many things. Which approach do you think is better? What are the downsides of each?
- How does being very skilled at something change the way people treat you, at work, in your social life, or in your community?
- Some highly skilled people burn out from their talent; athletes retire early, musicians lose passion for music. Why do you think this happens, and what can be done to prevent it?
- How has technology changed the way people learn new skills compared to 20 years ago? What are the advantages and disadvantages of learning online?
- Some people are so naturally talented that they never need to work very hard to succeed. Is that an advantage or a disadvantage in the long run? Why do you think so?
- In many countries, academic skills are valued more than trade skills like plumbing or carpentry. Why do you think this is, and is it fair?
- What role does failure play in developing a skill? How is the way people handle failure different across cultures?
- How do talent competitions and reality TV shows affect the way society views talent and hard work? What do you think about those effects?
- How does the pressure to be productive and constantly improve affect the way people approach learning new skills? Is this pressure helpful or harmful?
- Some cultures celebrate individual talent and competition while others value group harmony and collective skill. How does the culture you grew up in shape the way you think about standing out versus fitting in?
- People are living and working much longer than previous generations. How does this change the way we should think about learning new skills throughout our lives rather than just when we are young?
Advanced (C1)
- Social media platforms reward certain kinds of visible, photogenic skills, such as cooking plating, gymnastics tricks, or calligraphy, while making other equally difficult skills almost invisible. How do you think this is changing which talents get developed, valued, and passed on?
- In many fields, the gap between ‘good’ and ‘world-class’ is enormous for example a top tennis player earns thousands of times more than a very good club player. What does that extreme gap tell us about how societies value skill, talent, and effort?
- When someone has been trained in a skill since early childhood, such as classical music, martial arts, or elite sport, how much of their identity is genuinely their own, and how much has been shaped by other people’s ambitions for them?
- Some people argue that the rise of AI tools is creating a new kind of skill illiteracy, people can produce professional-looking work without actually understanding it. What are the long-term consequences of that for creativity, expertise, and work?
- Many traditional crafts and skills, such as weaving, pottery, blacksmithing, or folk music, are disappearing because they can’t compete economically. Is it worth preserving them even when they’re no longer economically viable? Who should be responsible for that?
- Research suggests people from wealthier families have far more opportunities to develop rare skills, such as musical instruments, languages, or elite sport. How much does this shape who gets recognized as ‘naturally talented,’ and what does it mean for how we think about merit?
- When someone turns a skill they love into a job, they often report losing their passion for it over time. But some people say it deepens their relationship with the craft. What do you think determines which way it goes, and what does that reveal about the relationship between skill, work, and meaning?
- Some people are naturally gifted at certain things while others have to work much harder to develop the same abilities. In a fair society, should natural talent be rewarded more, less, or the same as hard-earned skill? What makes this question so difficult to answer?
- In many workplaces, people with strong social skills, such as networking, self-promotion, or public speaking, often advance faster than people with deep technical expertise. Why do you think this happens, and what does it say about what organizations actually value versus what they claim to value?
- Older generations often complain that younger people lack basic practical skills, such as fixing things, reading maps, or handwriting, while younger people have digital skills their parents never developed. Is this actually a problem, or is it just the normal way skills evolve over time? What are we gaining and losing in this shift?
- Some countries invest heavily in identifying and developing talented young people through national sports academies, music conservatories, and math olympiad programs. But critics say these systems put enormous pressure on children and waste the potential of those who don’t get selected. How should a society balance finding and developing top talent with protecting children’s wellbeing and giving everyone a fair chance?