CONVERSATION TOPICS: Advanced Level

A large range of topics for English conversation, with suggested questions to stimulate ideas and encourage participants to engage in the discussion.

 Full list of Topics here 

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  Artificial Intelligence is transforming how we work, study, make choices and acquire information.
  • What, in your opinion, are the most useful ways to use AI ?
  • In what ways can AI help students ?
  • How will AI change educational methods?
  • How can AI help people to learn a language ?
  • Do you trust AI recommendations for hotels, travel, entertainment, online shopping, etc.?
    Why or why not?
  • Could AI wrote a bestselling novel ? If so, would you read it?
  • How can AI contribute to scientific or medical progress ?
  • Should doctors trust AI when making decisions about patient care?
  • What's the most surprising thing you've seen AI do recently?
  • Will artificial intelligence ever replace humans at work?
  • What jobs could be replaced ?
  • What new jobs do you think AI will create?
  • Should we worry about how AI will or could evolve ?
  • Are there any human skills or qualities that AI cannot replace ?
  • How can our society prepare for the widespread use of AI ?
  
  
  
• Working from home in a shared apartment/flat/house
  Working from home can be difficult when you share your apartment with others.
  • Have you ever had to share your living space with someone (flatmate, partner, family)?
  • Do you think it’s easy to work from home with the person(s) you live with?
    Why/why not?
  • Is it advisable for couples to have separate spaces during work time ?
    Why/why not ?
  • When two or more people share an apartment/flat/house, is it still possible to work from home ?
  • What arrangements can be made to facilitate working from home?
    Suggestions:
    - Agree to reduce noise during certain times of the day (no television/music…)
    - Arrange a co-working space where everyone can work together ?
      e.g. turn a part of the apartment into a co-working space.
    - Each person finds a co-working space outside the home they share ?
    
  Encourage more suggestions and ideas.
  
  
• Heatwaves: rising temperatures
  Heatwaves across the world are becoming more frequent, more intense and last longer.
  Ask students to think of ways we are affected and ways to deal with the effets on ourselves and our homes.
  • Effects on humans:
    - loss of fluids and salt
    - the heart beats faster and pumps harder
    - tiredness
    - nausea
    - fainting
    - cramps
    - headaches
    - loss of sleep
    
    
  • Ways to protect ourselves and our homes:
    Ourselves:
    - Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.
    - Avoid alcohol.
    - Wear loose clothing.
    - Wear a a wide-brimmed hat.
    - Stay in the shade. (Walk in shaded green spaces or parks.)
    - Look for ‘cool islands’ in urban areas, or ‘cool rooms’ : supermarkets, churches, cinemas …
    Solicit more ideas.
    
    Our homes:
    - Open shutters early in the morning and close them as the temperature rises.
    - Close blinds or curtains to block out direct sunlight.
    - Open internal doors to allow the air to circulate.
    - Use air-conditioning or fans.
    - Put a bowl of ice in front of a fan to help cool a room.
    Solicit more ideas.

• Newspapers today
  • Do people still read newspapers ?
  • When was the last time you bought a newspaper ?
  • On what occasions do the sales of newspapers increase? (elections, catastrophes, sports events, ...)
  • Which version of the news do you prefer to read: paper/computer/mobile phone?
  • Which version has the most up-to-date news ?
  • Are we well-informed by newspapers ?
  • Can we always trust newspapers to verify their sources of information ?
  • What would like to change in newspapers ?
  • Will we always have printed newspapers or will they eventually die out ?

• Fears and Phobias
  • What are people most afraid of / scared of?
  • What were you most afraid of when you were a child?
  • How did you overcome your fear?
  • Can fear be a useful/positive feeling? (e.g. for avoiding danger, risks...)
  • What is a phobia? (an extreme or irrational fear of something)
  • What sort of phobias can you think of? (spiders, birds, heights, needles, flying, water...)
  • Some phobias have specific words. Do you know any of these words?:
    - Acrophobia: fear of heights
    - Aerophobia: fear of flying
    - Agoraphobia: fear of being alone in public places
    - Aquaphobia: fear of water/drowning
    - Arachnophobia: fear of spiders
    - Claustrophobia: fear of enclosed or confined spaces
    - Cynophobia: fear of dogs
    - Ornithophobia: fear of birds
  • How about this phobia: nomophobia (short for 'no-mobile-phone phobia')
    (fear of being without your mobile phone or unable to use it)
    Is this a common phobia today?
    How can we become less scared of being without a mobile phone?

• Mobile Phones and their (excessive) use
  Mobile phones (or cell phones) have become such a large part of our lives today that many people wonder how they ever lived without them.
  What do most people use their phones for today?
  
  • In pairs, make a list of the most common uses:
    phone calls, text messages, photos, social media, alarm clock, booking flights, hotels, reading the news...
  • Do you think we have become too dependent on our mobile phones?
  • Should the use of mobile phones sometimes be banned or restricted?
    - at school (in general)?
    - in the classroom?
    - during meetings?
    - in restaurants?
    - other...
  • Can people become anxious or stressed without their mobile phone?
  • Have you ever heard of nomophobia? (no-mobile-phone phobia)
    (fear of being without a mobile, or being unable to use it, or feeling a compulsive need to have a device nearby at all times)
  • What advice would you give to someone who has become totally dependent on their mobile phone?

• Consumerism
  Short definition: spending money on things that we don't really need, for example:
     - replacing a perfectly working mobile phone because a new model has come out
     - buying more and more toys for children
  Solicit more examples...
  
  
  • What are the positive and negative effects of consumerism?
    Suggestions:
    
    Positive effects:
    • increased industrial production
    • more jobs
    • a greater selection of goods to choose from
    • provides more comfort
    • makes us happier
      
      
    Negative effects:
    • destruction of our natural resources
    • increased pollution
    • low-quality products (...that have to be replaced more often)
    • lower working standards in countries where goods are manufactured
      
      
  • Did previous generations consume as much?
  • Should people be encouraged to consume less? Why? How?
    

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