IELTS Speaking Topics

• Where are you from
• How far is your hometown from this place? Is your home town an interesting place?
• Where do you live? Is that an interesting place to live?
• Where do you live – A house or an apartment? Do you have any special room in there?
• What is your favorite room of the house?
• Are you planning to move to a new house in the future?
• Why we wear watch? How much is it important in your work culture to wear a watch?
• What makes you feel bored? What do you do when you feel bored?
• What kinds of facilities are available near your house?
• Why is it important to do physical activity like sports, exercise, running etc.?
• Do you think you will adopt some physical activity in future?
• Do you think youngsters are not well aware about the importance of physical activity?
• What do you do to concentrate on sleep before going to bed?
• Do you think taking a nap in the afternoon is beneficial? Do you take it?
• Do you work or study ?
• How was your first day in office?
• Why did you choose to work there?
• Do you like your job?
• What are your work responsibilities?
• Have you made friends with your colleagues?
• Did you eat any foreign food as a child?
• Have you eaten foreign foods apart from your local dishes?
• How popular are foreign foods in your country?
• Do you use maps? Do you prefer paper maps or e-maps? And Why ?
• Do you often remember directions?
• What kind of music you like?
• What would you prefer – writing with hand or type writing? And why?
• Do you like writing? What do you usually write?
• Did you like writing when you were a child?
• Do you remember your favorite teacher from primary school?
• Do you grow plants? Have you ever grown plants?
• What is the best holiday you remember?
• Do you like to go on holidays? Do you plan your holidays?
• Is it essential to plan before going on holidays?
• What do you plan before leaving for vacations?
• What are you studying?
• Why did you choose this particular course?
• What job would you like when you have completed all your studies?
• What are the differences between a private university and a public university? Which one do you prefer?

Language

• Which languages do you speak?
• Do you think it’s important for children to learn a foreign language?
• When did you start learning a foreign language?
• Do you enjoy learning languages?
• What activity do you find most useful for learning English?
• What do you find most difficult about learning English?
• Are there any other languages you would like to learn in the future?

Historic Place/History/Your favorite historical period

• Talk about an event you remember from history.
• How do people in your country feel about protecting historic buildings?
• Do you think an area can benefit from having an interesting historic place locally? In what way?
• What do you think will happen to historic places or buildings in the future? Why?
• How were you taught history when you were at school?
• Are there other ways people can learn about history, apart from at school? How?
• Do you think history will still be a school subject in the future? Why?

Eating habits

• Tell me about the types of food that people eat in your country.
• How are the eating habits now in your country different from eating habits in the past?
• How healthy is your country’s food?
• Why do you think different cultures have different table manners?
• How may eating habits change in coming decades?
• What one aspect of a foreign tradition you like about their eating habits? Why?

Work

• Do you think job satisfaction is more important than salary when choosing a job?
• What skills do you think are needed to get a good job these days?
• Do you think women should be able to do all the same jobs that men do?
• How has technology changed the way we work?
• What is the difference between white collar and blue collar jobs?
• What jobs do you think are most valuable to society?
• A job you would like to do in future?

Holiday

• What is your ideal holiday like?
• Talk about an outing that didn’t cost you too much
• Why do you think people go on holiday?
• How important is it for families to go on holiday together?
• Why do some people go on holiday alone?
• What kind of holidays will be popular in the future?
• Is it better to take a holiday in your own country or in a foreign country? Why?
• What problems can people have on holiday in a foreign country?

Describe a decision that you made with the help of someone else.

• What is the decision?
• Why did you take it?
• Whom help did you take?
• Why was the decision so important for you?
• Why do some people find it hard to make decisions?
• How important is it to get advice from other people when making decisions?
• Why is it sometimes difficult to accept advice?
• What are some of the most important decisions young people have to make?
• Do you agree that parents should make important decisions for their children?
• Is it better to make a decision thinking about what you want or thinking about what other people want?
• Describe a time when you took a decision and then changed your mind. Why it happened? Do you regret it?

Role models

• Which types of people become role models in your society?
• Do you agree that famous people have more responsibilities than ordinary people?
• What happens when young people lack good role models?
• What standards of behavior should teachers set?
• Do you agree that you should never meet your heroes?
• What benefits a famous person gets that ordinary people cannot?
• Talk about an influential personality

Describe a famous person you would like to meet

• Who is he/she?
• Why do you want to meet him/her?
• Why he is famous
• What would you do if you meet him/her?
• Do you think that famous people are generally happier than ordinary people?
• What qualities does a person need to have in order to be famous?
• Is it easier or more difficult to achieve fame today than in your grandparents’ time?
• Describe the ways that famous people use to influence public.
• Do you think more is expected from famous people than ordinary citizens?
• What type of people become famous in your country? Do you want to be famous?
• Talk about a popular person you know

Leadership and politics

• Do you think people are born to be leaders?
• Can leadership skills be taught?
• Why are elected politicians often so unpopular?
• What should a leader do to remain popular?
• Do you think unelected heads of state are a good idea?
• In your opinion what qualities a political leader should have?

Influences on the young

• What type of people influence the young in your country?
• Why is it important to have role models?
• Do you think the education system in your country influences young people’s behaviour?
• What types of people (parents, teachers, friends etc) are best to influence young people’s behaviour?
• What do you think young people will be most influenced by it the future?
• Who do you believe have more influence on young children – parents or teachers? Why?

Influence of television

• How popular is watching television in your country?
• Tell me about the types of programmes that are generally on television in your country.
• Why do people like watching television?
• Which one do you think is better – state or private television? Why?
• What effects can watching television have on children?
• How the TV programmes differ now than that of 10 years ago?
• Your favorite TV program

Films/ Cinema

• Do you think the cinema has increased or decreased in popularity in recent years?
• In your opinion, will this trend continue into the future?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of making films of real-life events?
• How important do you think it is for a filmmaker to remain true to the original story?
• Should films and television be censored or should we be free to choose what we see?
• How do you think censorship laws will change in the next 20 years?

A comic actor in your country

• Which actor? Why?
• What types of programmes do you find funny on TV?
• What types of programmes are most popular in your country? Why do you think this is the case?
• What kind of things make you laugh? Why?
• Do you like to make people laugh? How?
• Do you think it is important to have a sense of humour?

Media & News

• How do most people get their news in your country?
• How do you think people will get their news in the future?
• Do you believe everything you read in the newspapers?
• How has TV changed people’s life?
• What do you think of children watching TV?
• How has social media changed the way we get and share the news?

The internet and social media

• What types of websites are popular among your generation?
• Is using the internet a social or solitary activity?
• How has the internet changed social behaviour?
• Do most people have a computer at home in your country? What do most people use it for?
• Do you think all information on the internet is true?
• How can people find reliable information on the internet?
• How has the internet changed the way we live?
• How has the internet changed the way we work?
• How has the internet changed the way we communicate with others?
• Do you think the internet is safe for children to use unsupervised?
• Should companies check job applicants’ online profiles?
• What will be the next big development online?

A website you regularly use

• What the website is
• How you found the address of this website
• What the website contains
• How long have you been using it
• Explain why it is useful to you.
• How often you use it
• How much time you spend on it
• How long have you been using the Internet?
• How the Internet has changed our lifestyle?
• What would be the possible uses of Internet in the future?
• Advantages of internet
• Do people in your country use the internet a lot?
• What type of internet services do you use at your office?

Online Shopping

• Do you do any shopping on the internet? How frequently?
• Future of online shopping
• Have you ever had any difficulties while shopping online?
• Which is better- traditional shopping or online shopping?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of online shopping?

Technology

• Describe the advantages and disadvantages of modern technology.
• In what ways has technology changed your society?
• How has technology changed the way we communicate?
• How has technology changed the nature of long-distance relationships?
• What are the limitations of technology when it comes to interpersonal relationships?
• How could technology be considered a hindrance for us? Can we overcome it?

Universities/Education

• What makes a good student?
• What role should the teacher have in the classroom?
• Do you think computers will one day replace teachers in the classroom?
• How has teaching changed in your country in the last few decades?
• What is the difference between the way children learn and the way adults learn?
• How can a teacher make lessons for children more interesting?
• Is higher education too expensive in your country?
• Should all students pay for their university education? Why?
• What advantages do universities bring to the society? Is it same in your country?
• Which is more important, research or teaching? Why?
• How should students spend their summer vacations? How do/did you spend it?
• What are the advantages of private universities than public universities?

Life experience

• Do you agree that we learn best from our mistakes?
• What’s the best way to gain experience in life?
• Can we gain life experience from books and movies?
• Which is more important, experience or potential?
• What experience do you wish you had gained?
• Why do some people fail to learn from their experience?

Retirement and old age

• At what age should people retire from work?
• What problems can people face after their retirement?
• How important are retirees to your country’s economy?
• When should you start saving for retirement?
• Why do some companies encourage early retirement?
• Do you think the state should take responsibility of retirees who worked in private companies rather than government organisation?

Gift

• Describe a gift that you have recently received?
• What was the occasion?
• Why did you like it?
• How important is giving gifts in your culture?
• How often do you present gifts to people?
• How would you go about choosing a gift?
• What kind of gifts do you generally like to buy for others?
• What is the purpose of gift giving?
• How has gift giving changed since your grandparents’ time?
• How important is gift giving in a relationship?
• What is more important when it comes to giving a gift, cost or effort?
• Do you think that people have become more materialistic when it comes to giving gifts, as compared to your grandparents’ time?
• How has modern technology changed the nature of gift giving?

Nature/Environmental problems

• Why is it important to protect the natural environment?
• Why should people be concerned about the environment?
• What environmental problems are common in your country?
• What can the government in your country do to deal with those problems?
• What technological innovations should the world develop to protect the environment?
• Do you think the youth these days care about the environment? Why?
• Environmental problems are too big to be dealt at the individual level? Do you agree? Why/ Why not?
• How can people protect the environment?
• Do you think money should be spent on protecting animals?
• Do you think more should be done to protect natural beauty spots in your country?
• What can a government do to encourage people not to harm the environment?

Clothes you like to wear on special occasions

• What is it?
• On what occasion do you wear this?
• Do other people wear the same dress on special occasions?
• Explain why you like to wear this dress.
• Do you enjoy buying clothes?
• What kinds of clothes you like to wear?
• What factors do you think affect the clothes we choose to wear?
• Is it possible to look good without spending too much on clothes?
• Can clothing tell you much about a person?
• Why do some companies ask their staff to wear uniforms?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of having uniforms at work?
• When do people wear traditional clothing in your country?
• How have clothes fashions change in your country over the last few decades?
• What is the difference between clothes that young people and old people like to wear?

Sports

• What types of sports are popular in your country? Why?
• What are the benefits of playing a sport?
• Do you often play a sport? Why/ why not?
• Do you think the types of sport that are popular will change in the future?
• How can sports bring people from different countries closer together?
• Why are some international sports more popular than others?

Childhood Memory

• Is it important to have pleasant childhood memories?
• Do you think that people are permanently affected by negative childhood memories?
• What do you think it means to ‘live in the past’?
• Nowadays many parents try to make their children happy by buying them many toys. How do you feel about this?
• Is it important for a child to have a lot of toys in order to be happy?
• What is more important for a child’s happiness, many toys or many friends?

Photographs

• A nice photo of you that you remember
• Who clicked it?
• Where was it clicked?
• Why is it important to you?
• Do you prefer to be clicked by others or take selfies?
• Do you think that digital photography will replace traditional hard copy photographs?
• Do you think professional skills are necessary for good photography? What are those skills?
• Is it necessary to take a course to become a good photographer
• Is it easy to take good photographs?
• What are the pros and cons of digital photography?
• Should people share their photographs online?
• When can an image be worth a thousand words?
• Is a photograph a reliable form of identification?
• How has modern technology changed the way we take photographs?
• How has sharing photographs changed since your grandparents’ time?
• How well do photographs capture special moments?
• Do you think that people nowadays spend too much time taking photographs?
• Why do you think people photograph themselves?

Inventions and copyright

• Which invention has transformed your country most?
• Would you like to be an inventor? Why/ why not?
• How long should someone be able to profit from an idea?
• Do you think intellectual property laws are too strict?
• What is your opinion about the copyright of intellectual property and idea?
• Can you cite one example when you noticed a copyright violation? What was it? 

Leisure Activities

• What type of leisure activities are popular in your country.
• Why it is important for people to have leisure activities?
• Why are some leisure activities more popular than others?

Environmental problem

• What are the greatest environmental problems facing your country at present?
• What has been done so far to solve these problems?
• How successful would you say these measures have been?
• Do you think things are likely to get better or worse in the future?
• How do you think you can contribute to solve these problems?
• Should countries try to solve the climate change problems together or individually? Why?

Ceremony

• How important are ceremonies in our lives?
• Do you see the role of public and private ceremonies changing in the future?
• Have attitudes to marriage changed in recent years?
• According to you, in what ways do men and women feel differently about marriage?
• What sort of national events make headlines in your country?
• Do the media in your country pay more attention to global or national events?

Someone you know who talks a lot

• Who’s that person?
• How did you meet him?
• What does he generally talk about?
• Do you enjoy having a conversation with that person?
• Do you like to talk more or listen more?
• Why do you think communication is important?
• What is important when communicating in front of an audience?
• What do you prefer – formal or informal communication?
• What do you prefer – face to face communication, telephonic communication or online chatting?
• Differences between spoken and written communication
• Advantages and disadvantages of modern communication channel for teenagers.
• To what extent do you think the media influences how people communicate with each other?
• Do you think there are differences in the way men and women communicate?
• Do you think that people become better communicators as they get older?
• Do you agree that education has a strong and positive effect on people’s ability to communicate effectively?
• What impact has the growth of technology had on the way people communicate and how do you think this will develop in the future?

A trip you did using public transportation (Travel and transport)

• Where you went?
• What was the mode of transportation?
• Why you chose that mode ?
• Advantages and disadvantages of public transport?
• Why people use their own vehicle?
• Will having one’s own vehicle influence one’s status?
• How easy is it to travel around your country/ What is the state of transport in your city ?
• Which method of travel do you consider safest? Why?
• Has travel become safer in recent years than that was in the past?
• What are the pros and cons of low-cost air travel?
• How do you think people will travel in the future?
• Should the government in a country focus more on rail transports or road transports? Why?
• How do most people travel long distances in your country?
• Have the types of transport people use changed much over the last few decades?
• What kind of improvements have there been in transport in your country in recent years?
• Do you think transport is likely to continue to improve in the future?
• Do you think most people should use public transports? Why/ why not?
• Why some countries impose higher taxes on car ownership? How is the scenario in your country?

Advertisements

• What kind of advertisements run on your local TV channels?
• Do you get influenced by adverts and buy products?
• Do you remember any advertisement from your childhood?
• Should celebrities endorse products? Will it have positive or negative impact?
• What makes an advertisement effective?
• What is the purpose of advertising?
• How have advertisements changed since you were a child?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of advertising?
• Do you think that advertisements should be strictly regulated?
• How important is it for advertisers to tell the whole truth in advertisements?

A song that means a lot to you (Music)

• Which song
• Sung by
• Do you listen that song on some special occasion?
• Why do you like it?
• A place where people like to listen to music
• Where it is located
• How you heard about the place
• What kind of music you can hear
• What kind of people usually go there.
• Do children learn music in your country?
• What are the benefits to learn musical instruments?
• Do old people like new generation songs?
• What kind of songs young people in your country listen to?
• Who is your favorite singer/musician why?
• Who is the most popular musician in your country?
• Have you ever tried to learn any musical instrument? Would like to learn one in future?
• Can anyone learn music or one requires to have some special qualities/abilities?
• What kind of abilities are required to learn music/singing?
• Do you listen to music often?
• Do you listen to music when you are studying or driving?
• What kind of music do you prefer? Why?
• Do you download music from website or buying a CD? Why?
• Do you think your taste in music will change in future? Why?
• What kind of music do people in your country prefer?
• Do people in the present listen to the same music that people used to listen in the past?

Reading Books

• Do you generally read a lot of books or do you prefer watching TV? Why?
• What kinds of books are considered good reads in your opinion?
• Do you think that people read nowadays as they did in the past?
• Do you regard famous writers as good role models?
• If a movie is based on a book, would you prefer to read the book or to watch the film? Why?
• How our reading habit changes as we grow up? Why does it happen?

Art

• Describe the general purpose of art. Why do people enjoy art?
• Do you think that art is as important as academic subjects when it comes to educating children?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of art education?
• Why do you think some people enjoy looking at paintings and sculptures and others do not?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an artist?
• Do you think that some people are naturally better artists than others?

A sport you have seen on TV and would like to try

• Name of the sport
• Where you saw it?
• Why would you like to try it?
• Which sport is popular in your country?
• Which sport do young people in your country enjoy?
• Which sport do old people in your country enjoy?
• Do you think amateurs should participate in local sports activities?
• What are the benefits of playing sports?
• Do you play any sport?
• Do you support any particular team?
• What impact does money have in sport?
• What do you think is the relation between business and sport?
• Sport celebrities endorse products?
• Why are some sports fans so passionate?
• Is there any violence at sporting events in your country?
• Should athletes be better role models?
• What benefits do international sporting events bring?
• Is it important for a country to win lots of medals?
• The money professional sportsmen earn is significantly higher than that the earning of other professionals. Is it justified?

Robots

• Can Robots replace humans?
• Have you ever seen any robots, Where?
• Give an example of a common robot in use

Describe a time when you got into trouble, either at school or at home

• What it was
• How you got into it
• How you handled it
• Were you punished for it
• Explain how you felt about it.

Water

• Do you drink tab water or bottled water?
• Is it affordable? Why?
• Do you think people should drink the good bottle of water? Why?
• Have you been thirsty and there was nothing available to drink?

Dictionary

• Do you often use a dictionary?
• Do you prefer to use an electronic dictionary or a dictionary made out of paper?
• If someone gave you a dictionary as a gift, how would you feel?
• Do you think it would be interesting to write a dictionary?

A childhood friend

• When did you first meet?
• What that person is special to you?
• Has the nature of friendship changed because of modern communication channels?
• Why do people generally don’t have friends from their childhood?
• Something you would like to for your friend
• Something you friend has done for you
• Something you would like to do that your friend has done

A city or country where you would like to live or work in the future

• Which city
• Where is it located
• Why do you like it
• What the place look like
• How you know about this place
• What work you will do if you live there

Describe a place/country in other countries where you would like to work for a short time

• Where would you like to work?
• What kind of job would it be?
• When would you like to go?
• Why do you want to work there?

Family

• Is family important in your country?
• How has the size of the family changed in the last few decades in your country?
• How do you think the family will change in the future?
• What role do grandparents play in the family in your country?
• Who do you think should be responsible for the care of the elderly, the family or the government?
• Why is the number of joint families decreasing in modern time?

A way you use to concentrate in your work or studies

• What technique you use to concentrate on studies or work?
• When do you use it?
• Does it help you?
• Do you always use this technique?
• Do you think technology has affected the concentration of children?
• Why is it necessary for sportsmen to concentrate?
• Is it important for people to concentrate on their work nowadays?
• Some people think that machines do better job than humans and machines should replace humans. What do you think?

Sleep

• How long do you think is good to sleep for you? And why?
• Do you think older should get more or less sleep than the younger ones?

Saving money

• A method you used to save money
• How can children learn from their parents about money saving?
• Do you think saving money is important?

An event that you have attended recently

• What was it?
• With whom you attended that?
• Was it enjoyable for you? And how?

An event in your life that you recently celebrated

• What was the occasion?
• When and where it took place?
• Any particular theme?
• Who were the people invited?
• Do you think a lot of people should be invited to a function?
• Describe an occasion when visitors came to your home
• Describe a recent event that made you happy. Why? Any special memories?
• What is the difference in terms of culture between your country and other countries?
• What is the benefit of events like international summits or beauty pageant to the host country?

 A subject you studied/liked at school

• What was the subject?
• How long did you study it for?
• How was it taught?
• Why did you like it?
• Was that subject a popular choice in your school?
• What other subjects did kids in your school preferred to study?
• What do you think should be added to school curriculum which might be helpful in real life?
• Which subject you think might be added to future school curriculum?
• How has technology changed the way students are taught in school?
• How important is sports and related infrastructure while choosing a school?
• When should kids get to decide which subject to choose in school?

A technology you like using (except computers)

• Which technology product you use a lot? And why?
• In what ways people can learn to use technology?
• Companies are using more and more technologies. How is it impacting people?

Describe a story you remember from your childhood

• Do you think technological changes have affected story telling
• Do you think anyone can be a good storyteller ?
• Your first mobile phone
• Who bought the phone for you
• Why did you buy it
• What did you do with it

Talk about a skill that takes long time to learn.

• What is the skill?
• Have you tried learning the skill?
• Why do you think it takes more time?
• The challenges you faced while learning the skill.
• Describe something interesting that your friend has done
• What is it?
• Who did it?
• Why did you find it interesting?
• How would have you reacted if you were in the same situation.

Your Dream House

• What it would look like?
• Where it would be located?
• What facilities this would have?
• Why you want to live there.