Transitions
78 conversation questions and prompts
Share your ideas, reasons, or a story about a change in life.
Choose a level to discuss fresh starts, changing roles, and turning points in life.
A1
Beginner (A1)
7 questions
- Who helped you when you started a new school or job?
- How do you feel on the first day of a new class?
- When you meet a new group, are you quiet or talkative?
- What do you most want to take with you to a new home?
- Who do you miss from your old class or job?
- Do you want to live in one place for a long time? Why?
- Which is harder for you: your first day or your last day at a job?
A2
Elementary (A2)
21 questions
- What was your last day at your old school like?
- What is different in your life now that you study English?
- What surprised you when you started your first job?
- What did you start paying for yourself as you got older?
- Tell me about someone who moved away and then came back.
- What was your best memory from when you were a child?
- When you moved to a new home, what did you miss about the old one?
- What happened to your room after you moved out?
- What did you look forward to when you finished school?
- What is your earliest memory?
- Tell us about a goodbye you remember well.
- Who started treating you differently as you got older? How?
- Would you rather start a new job with a friend or on your own? Why?
- Did you study hard in high school?
- What was the first thing you bought with money you earned?
- Tell me about a group you joined without knowing anyone there.
- How did you spend your first week after finishing school?
- What did you stop asking permission to do as you got older?
- What changed at home when someone moved in or moved out?
- What was different when you saw an old classmate again?
- What do you remember about your first night in a new home?
B1
Intermediate (B1)
20 questions
- Tell us about a change you expected to be difficult but enjoyed.
- Tell me about a change you wanted to make for a long time before you finally did it.
- Which was better for you: elementary school, junior high school or high school? Why?
- What made a new place start to feel like home?
- What surprised you about sharing a home with someone for the first time?
- When you change jobs, would you rather take a break between them or start right away?
- How would you change your life if you could?
- When did someone start asking you for advice instead of giving you advice?
- Who knows you mainly from an earlier part of your life? What would surprise them about you now?
- What new responsibility took you longer to get used to than you expected?
- What are some good and bad things about starting university?
- What did you have to take over when someone left your home, class, or workplace?
- How can life change after someone has children?
- How did you tell people about a big change you had decided to make?
- Have you ever become friends with someone who used to teach or supervise you? How did that happen?
- What kinds of problems did you have when you went from elementary school to junior high?
- What did you get wrong about life after leaving school?
- Tell us about someone who started a very different life after retiring.
- What was it like to return to work or study after a long break?
- What became easier after you stopped living with someone?
B2
Upper Intermediate (B2)
15 questions
- When you move back in with family as an adult, which old rules should still apply?
- What would make you leave a life that was comfortable but no longer interesting?
- What are some good and bad changes that marriage can bring?
- When have you gone back somewhere and felt like a visitor instead of one of the group?
- How does becoming the boss of former coworkers change the way you can joke with them?
- When would you tell people you were planning a major change: as soon as you thought of it or once it was certain?
- What do you think are the biggest transitions in a person's life? Which is the most important?
- What change in your life happened so gradually that someone else noticed it first?
- What can make leaving a group feel like letting people down, even when you want to go?
- What would you want to keep from your working life after retirement?
- When does a child become an adult?
- Tell us about a temporary arrangement that became your normal life.
- When have you enjoyed a new role but missed the freedom of your old one?
- What did you expect to miss after a major change but rarely thought about again?
- When has another person’s decision changed the direction of your life?
C1
Advanced (C1)
15 questions
- How much say should people have in a loved one’s decision to start over if they will have to help pay for it?
- When is keeping a way back helpful during a major life change, and when might it stop you from settling in?
- What happens when a person changes their life but the people closest to them keep treating them as before?
- What makes the difference between giving a new life a fair chance and staying too long?
- When can returning to an earlier way of life be a step forward?
- When a person stops being the one everyone relies on, what might they gain and what might they miss?
- When can a move away be a solution to your problems, and when might you take the same problems with you?
- How much of a fresh start depends on being around people who do not know your past?
- How should parents and adult children share decisions when the parents begin to need more help?
- How fair is it to describe someone as brave for starting over when they have the money to return to their old life?
- What can a person miss about a period of life they would never choose to repeat?
- What can you owe a former partner after you have built separate lives?
- When does staying in the same place become as big a decision as leaving?
- How do the stories people tell about leaving a job, a relationship, or a country change as time passes?
- How much should the years you have already spent on a career influence whether you leave it?