Personal relationships
1. Inspiring person. Talk about an inspiring person who has influenced your life in some way. It could be a well-known person or just a friend or a person from your family. Talk about this person's background, the important things they have done in their life, why you find them so inspiring and how they changed or influenced your life.
2. Friendship. Talk about friendship and what it means to you. What makes a good friend? What differentiates a true, lasting friendship from temporary social bonds? Have you ever been betrayed by a friend?
3. New technologies and social relationships. Talk about the influence of new technologies on social relationships nowadays. Explain how the former have affected the latter both positively and negatively. Provide arguments to support your opinion.
Work
1. Working conditions. Talk about the way working conditions have changed over the last few years. In your view, which job is likely to offer the least job satisfaction? Apart from low wages, what are the most common complaints from people who are dissatisfied with their jobs? Provide arguments to support your opinion.
2. Personal fulfillment and working conditions. Talk about personal fulfillment and working conditions when choosing a career. Which is more important? Do we really have a choice in the present-day situation? How do these two factors impact on efficiency at work? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
3. Employment. Talk about employment. What is the key to improving the current situation? Should the government invest more in research and development, or should it give more support to the self-employed and entrepreneurs? If you decided to start your own business, what type of business would it be? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
4. Working abroad. Talk about the pros and cons of working abroad. Would you be more likely to move abroad for love or for professional reasons? How easy is it for a newcomer to adapt to an alien culture? How hard should you try to consciously preserve your own culture in such circumstances? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
5. Promoting your own business. If you had your own business, what would be the best way to promote it? Provide examples to support your opinion.
6. Setting up your own business. Give your opinion on the following statement: “Setting up your own business is a better choice than working for somebody else.” Are there specific personality traits that point to entrepreneurial success? Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
7. The garment industry. Talk about the low cost garment industry. Who makes our clothes? Most factories are located in developing countries. What are the working conditions there? What’s the true cost of our latest wardrobe bargain? Is there anything we can do to solve this situation?
8. Pay gap between men and women in sport. Sporting women are all struggling to get by on a meagre income, but the difference between what they are paid and what their male counterparts get is astonishing. Are male footballers worth 250 times their female counterparts? Do you think this is commonplace or is it only restricted to the world of sport?
9. . New Technologies at Work. Talk about the monitoring of electronic communications at work. Do you think the use of your mobile phone or the Internet for personal reasons should be acceptable in the workplace? Do you believe there should be restrictions or more control on the part of employers? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
Volunteering /Human Rights
1. Volunteering. Talk about volunteering. Would you consider spending your leisure time helping others? Do you think it is worthwhile? Give reasons why (or not) you would do that.
2. Crowdfunding. Talk about the effect of crowdfunding (the practice of raising funds from two or more people over the Internet towards a common service, project or product) in today’s society. How can that help entrepreneurs or artists, or social projects? What type of project would you be willing to fund? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
3. Volunteering. Give your opinion on volunteering. Is it something that more people should do on a regular basis or, on the contrary, something that should be paid for? Can volunteering give you personal or professional benefits? Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
4. Refugees. Talk about the problem of refugees. For different causes, like wars, many people find themselves forced to flee their countries. Illegal immigration, malnutrition, lack of volunteers, etc., are all issues related to this. Talk about the current situation from your point of view and explain what can be done to solve or alleviate the problem.
Money
1. Instant Credit Loans. Talk about the pros and cons of ‘Instant credit loans’. Give reasons why you think this way of getting some money in a fast, easy way can be good or not and provide arguments to support your opinion.
2. Credit cards. The use of credit cards is increasing nowadays. Do you really think it is the best way to make our transactions? What are the risks? Have you ever been ripped off when paying by credit card? How can credit cards be used responsibly? Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
3. Raising cigarette taxes. ‘It’s a public health measure,’ Michael Noonan, the Irish Finance Minister, said the day after last year’s Budget was passed, when he announced he was going to raise cigarette taxes. Talk about raising cigarettes taxes. Do you think it is the most effective way to reduce smoking or is it a good strategy for making money?
4. Crowdfunding. Talk about the effect of crowdfunding (the practice of raising funds from two or more people over theInternet towards a common service, project or product) in today’s society. How can that help entrepreneurs or artists, or social projects? What type of project would you be willing to fund? Back upyour opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
Health
1. Stem cell research: Talk about the ethics of stem cell research into cancer and hereditary diseases. Does the advancement of medical science justify the use of human embryos, or stem cells from your own body or a donor? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
2. Depression and loneliness: Talk about depression and loneliness in today’s society. To what extent is it true that these issues have been aggravated by the spread of social networks and new technologies? Suggest solutions for sufferers, and ways to prevent these problems. Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
3. Stress: Talk about the most common causes of stress in people’s lives today. How can long‐term stress affect people? Give reasons to support your arguments.
4. Stress II: Do you think that life nowadays is more stressful than in the past? Why do you think so? Talk about the problem of stress in current society. What can an individual do about it? Do you have any strategies for managing stress and bringing your life into balance?
5. Healthy ageing: Talk about healthy aging. What can we do to slow down or even prevent problems that often come with getting older? What determines how healthy you’ll be as you get older? What kind of changes should you expect as you age?
6. Binge drinking: Talk about the problem of binge drinking among youngsters. Illnesses, rubbish, vandalism are all issuescaused by youngsters binging. Talk about the current situation from your point of view and explain what can be done to solve or alleviate the problem.
Sport
1. Sport and people: Do you think sport unites or sets people apart? What examples have you seen, either in your city or on TV, related to this issue? What examples can you give to support your opinion?
2. Violence in sport: Talk about violence in sport. Should swearing be banned in all sports competitions? What measures should be taken against violence in sports competitions? Are all sports prone to violence? Back up your opinión with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
3. Sporting women: Sporting women are all struggling to get by on a meagre income, but the difference between what they are paid and what their male counterparts get is astonishing. Are male footballers worth 250 times their female counterparts? Do you think this is commonplace or is it only restricted to the world of sport?
Fashion, image, cosmetic surgery
1. Obsession with looks: Give your opinion on the current obsession with looks. Do you think we pay too much attention to ourphysical appearance? Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
2. Cosmetic surgery: Demand amongst men for cosmetic procedures has escalated 325 per cent in the last 20 years, according to statistics. Talk about cosmetic surgery and its evolution through time: gender stereotypes, dangers, effects on youths, etc.
3. Fashion trends: Talk about how fashion trends have evolved over the last years. Say if you think one's image is really important in all walks of life and provide arguments to support your opinion.
4. Low-cost garment industry: Talk about the low cost garment industry. Who makes our clothes? Most factories are located in developing countries. What are the working conditions there? What’s the true cost of our latest wardrobe bargain? Is there anything we can do to solve this situation?
Art and culture
1. Classic Art vs Contemporary Art. Give your opinion on the following statement: “Classic art is better than contemporary art”. Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
2. Piracy. Talk about piracy. What do you think about it ? Do you think that cultural events are a rip-off? What are your views on Copyright infringement ? Should culture be free ? How can we feed our culture vulture ?
3. Funding of cultural activities: Talk about private and public funding of cultural activities. Do you think museums should be admissionfree and subsidized exclusively by donations (public and/or private)? Should the government promote domestically-produced media by establishing a minimum amount of homegrown content on TV and radio? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
Education and child upbringing
1. Surrogacy: surrogacy is a way for a childless couple to become parents, with a surrogate mother carrying their child. Talk about this method of assisted reproduction. Do you think it may be positive for childless couples? How can it affect the surrogate mother, the intended parents or the child?
2. Adoption: Do you think everybody is fit to adopt a child? Under which circumstances wouldn’t you be in favour of adoption? Provide examples to support your opinion.
3. Children’s rights and duties: do you think children have too many rights and very few duties nowadays? Are they being overprotected by the law and social norms? How is this affecting education and parenting? Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
4. Educating an only child: Talk about the education of an only child. Does an only child receive better attention and education? What are the pros and cons of being an only child in today’s society? How does it affect a child’s transition to
adulthood? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
5. Home-education vs traditional education: Talk about the best way to educate children. Say if you consider home‐education as valid an option as traditional schooling. Provide arguments to support your opinion.
6. Homeschooling: Talk about homeschooling. Do you think this is the best option for education in remote areas where children would have to travel for hours to go to school? Is boarding school a better option? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
7. Education policy: Talk about education policy. How are the seemingly endless changes in policy affecting the future of society? What aspects of education should receive attention from politicians? What can be done to improve discipline and poor academic performance in schools? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
8. Education and stereotypes: Talk about the relationship that can be found between education and stereotypes. What role does the media play in maintaining or challenging stereotypes? Do you agree with those who claim that stereotypes consistently distort reality? Are they a form of mockery? Or, do you believe that they can be a starting point to learn about other cultures?
9. Education at school: Do you think education at school should just focus on traditional subjects? From your point of view, which moral values should be enhanced at school? Provide arguments to support your opinion.
10. Binge drinking among youngsters: Talk about the problem of binge drinking among youngsters. Illnesses, rubbish, vandalism are all issues caused by youngsters binging. Talk about the current situation from your point of view and explain what can be done to solve or alleviate the problem.
11. Bullying and child crime: Talk about bullying and child crime. Do you think students should be held legally responsible for bullying at school? And for theft or assault? What type of punishment would be appropriate? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge. C1
12. Bloggers’ influence on teens: Last year, Variety magazine released a study showing that YouTube stars’ and bloggers’ influence on teens far exceeded that of traditional celebrities. Talk about youtubers, and this new type of celebrity. Do they represent good models for youths? How could they be beneficial to society?
The Media
1. The impact of the Internet on the media. Talk about the impact of the Internet on the media. Do you think the Internet will replace TV and/or newspapers in the coming years? Provide arguments to support your opinion.
2. Free speech and the media. Talk about free speech and the media. Do you think the media should be able to speak freely about anything? Do you believe there should be restrictions to avoid defamation, invasion of privacy and racial or religious discrimination? How does the media affect our opinion about current affairs? Are we manipulated by the media? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge
3. Information revolution. Talk about the information revolution our society and the media have experienced in the last few years with the appearance of Twitter and the online press. Do you think we are suffering from information overload? What are the positive and the negative aspects of this immediate access to what is going on? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge
4. Printed newspapers. We can be up-to-date with what is going on in the world or our local area through many media. Do you think printed newspapers will disappear in the near future? Support your opinion with convincing arguments,
5. Tabloid television. Talk about tabloid television and the effect it has on youth nowadays. How is it changing the attitude of teenagers and young adults?
Technology
1. New technologies and social relationships. Talk about the influence of new technologies on social relationships nowadays. Explain how the former have affected the latter both positively and negatively. Provide arguments to support your opinion.
2. Pros and cons of the Internet on your mobile. Talk about the pros and cons of having the Internet on your mobile. Explain how this can affect a person’s daily life (a senior, a youngster...) and provide arguments that support your opinion.
3. Monitoring of e-communication at work. Talk about the monitoring of electronic communications at work. Do you think the use of your mobile phone or the Internet for personal reasons should be acceptable in the workplace? Do you believe there should be restrictions or more control on the part of employers? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
4. Social networks. Social networks are here to stay and they are becoming the most common way to communicate, socialise and share information. How do you think this affects our lives? Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
5. Smartphones: Talk about the effect of smartphones in our daily life. What are the pros and cons of being connected 24/7 to anybody in the world through the Internet? How is it affecting social relations? Are we truly addicted to smartphones? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
6. Information revolution: Talk about the information revolution our society and the media have experienced in the last few years with the appearance of Twitter and the online press. Do you think we are suffering from informationoverload? What are the positive and the negative aspects of this immediate access to what is going on? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
7. Social networks. Give your opinion on the following statement: “We share too much information on social networks and that can cause problems”. Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
8. Education and technologies. Talk about new technologies, the effect they have had on education and the way we learn nowadays compared to a couple of decades ago.
Privacy/ Crime
1. Handling of personal data by governments. Talk about the handling of personal data by governments. Should governments have the right to tap our telephone conversations in the name of public safety and the fight against terrorism? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
2. Surveillance cameras. Talk about surveillance cameras. How do they invade our privacy? Do they ensure public safety? What do you think about the monitoring of employees' actions through the use of surveillance cameras?
3. Creative vs traditional punishments. Talk about alternative ways to punish criminals. Do you think creative punishments are a better option to fight crime than traditional punishments? In all situations? Provide examples to support your opinion.
4. Online privacy in social networks. “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are.” Every day, say the researchers, your friends are leaving tell tale clues about you, what you like, and even how you are likely to vote in any election. Thus, even if you decide to delete your social media account, your profile is still “encoded” in previous interactions with your friends. You can think of your friends as creating a “mirror image” of yourself – all a company or government entity needs to do is figure out who a person’s friends are, and it’s possible to predict how a person will act or behave.” (www.cpomagazine.com) How can you protect your online privacy? What measures do you apply? How valuable is your online privacy in social networks? How valuable do you think it is for social network companies? What are your concerns about how privacy is dealt with in the most popular/your social networks?
5. Identity theft. It is far more convenient to steer your mouse to get what you need than to drive around to four stores. With online shopping on the rise, many users have been victims of identity theft. Do you know anyone who has been a victim of identity theft? What are some ways to prevent identity theft? Why is identity theft more common today than it was fifty years ago?
6. Surveillance cameras. We are constantly being observed by thousands of surveillance cameras, and we are not even aware that they are there. Are you for or against the use of such equipment in public places? Why/Why not? And what about in private areas? Do you think that they are, in general, a violation of people’s privacy? Are there any cases in which you think that the use of this equipment is highly (un)justified? Which one/s? Why?
7. Cyberbullying. While cybercrime is rapidly increasing due to extensive use of Internet and IT-enabled services, cyberbullying, which involves the use of electronic communication to intimidate a person via messages, is the new menace for those spending time on social media sites. What kind of person is usually affected by cyberbullying? What are its causes and consequences? How can we solve this problem?
8. CCTV cameras. In most countries video surveillance and Closed Circuit Television cameras (CCTV) have been a growing phenomenon over recent years and we are now used to seeing CCTV cameras in many public places. Do you agree with this system of surveillance or do you think they mean an intrusion into privacy?
Housing
1. Eviction. Talk about how being evicted can affect the house’s owner/s. Do you think there are other options before evicting someone from his/her/their own house? Provide arguments to support your opinion
2. Ecofriendly homes. All around the world, architects are designing affordable eco-friendly homes. Should governments give grants to homeowners to encourage them to make their homes more environmentally friendly? Support your opinion with at least three different ideas. Reflect on the obstacles homeowners may face. Describe some improvements a homeowner could make to his/her house to make it more eco-friendly.
3. Buying a home. “Buying a home is the most significant financial decision in most people’s lives. For tenants, paying the rent is the biggest monthly outgoing. The financial crisis had huge implications for those wanting to buy or sell property.” (http://www.bbc.com/news/ business). Is the housing problem a financial one? Have banks eased the problem or made it worse? Do you think that renting a house is a better alternative?
4. Holiday apartments: Tourist places are flooded with visitors more than ever almost every weekend. Friendly rentals or short stay holiday apartments are on offer as an affordable way to spend short holidays with your family and friends. However, some owners take advantage of lax regulation and offer their flats illegally. It is believed that this situation has provoked flat renting prices going higher and there is serious concern on this issue. Would you use this type of accommodation? Give reasons. Do you think the Government should intervene? Propose some ideas to try to solve the problem.
Politics
1. Political parties. Talk about the following statement: ‘Political parties just take people into account when the elections are round the corner’. Do you agree? Provide arguments to support your opinion.
2. Politics and honesty. Talk about politics and honesty. Are all politicians dishonest? Do you think they only say whatever is convenient at the time? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.
The environment
1. Intensive farming vs organic farming. Talk about the pros and cons of ‘Intensive farming’ as opposed to ‘Organic farming’. Give your opinion and provide arguments to support it.
2. Improving your city. Talk about the main problems that affect the area where you live. Do you think there are ways to improve it? Provide different solutions
3. Drilling/deep sea prospections. Talk about drilling/deep sea prospections and the use of renewable energies. Do you think we should look for new sources of fossil fuel or new alternative energies? Do you believe the economic advantages would outweigh the environmental consequences of drilling near the coast? Back up your opinion with facts,figures, examples or personal knowledge.
4. Animal rights. Give your opinion on leisure activities that involve mistreating an animal, such as bullfighting or foxhunting. Do you think they should be banned? Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
5. Traffic in cities. Talk about the problem of the traffic in cities. Noise, pollution, lack of parking spaces, etc., are all issues caused by the numerous vehicles that make use of our roads. Talk about the current situation from your point of view and explain what can be done to solve or palliate the problem.
6. Tourism. Give your opinion on the following statement: “Tourism ruins places”. Support your opinion with convincing arguments.
7. Carpooling and private flat sharing. Carpooling and private flat sharing are becoming more and more popular in Spain. What are thebenefits and drawbacks? To what extent are they affecting taxi drivers, bus companies or hotels?
Food
1. Fancy restaurants: Talk about the following statement: ‘Fancy/luxury restaurants just take your money. You can get the same dishes in a regular restaurant for less money’. Do you agree? Provide arguments to support your opinion.
2. Fancy restaurants II: Talk about the following statement: “Fancy restaurants serve very little food; it’s nice food, but just not worth the money”. Do you agree? Back up your opinion with facts, figures, examples or personal knowledge.