Keywords / Subtopics: talking about work, education, qualifications, home and neighbourhood, family, social life and hobbies, your nationality and your town, how you spend your spare time, making small talk, greeting, leave-taking, colleagues, friends and acquaintances
- Can I ask what you do? / Can I ask where you work?
- How long have you been there? / Have you been there for a long time?
- Are you the manager? / Are you full-time?
- Do you like it? / What do you like about this job?
- Do you get on well with [everyone you work with] / [your colleagues]?
- What does your company do? / Who are your customers?
- Are you married? Are you living ‘common law’? Any children? Do you have a partner?
- How old are your kids? / Are your kids in elementary school / high school / university?
- Where did you go to school / to university? What university did you go to?
- What was your major? / What did you study?
- Are you working now in the field that you trained in?
- Are you from Toronto? Which province is your hometown in? Can I ask your nationality?
- What’s your hometown? How old were you when you left?
- Do you go back to your hometown much / often? Are you in touch with your childhood friends?
- How long have you been living in [the city where you live now]?
- What do you do outside work? / What do you on / at the weekend?
- Do you play sports? Are you on any teams?
- Are you musical? Can you sing well or play an instrument? Have you ever been in a choir or a band? Can you read music? Have you ever wanted to learn?
- Where would I find on a typical Friday evening? Sunday afternoon?
- Are you a morning person or night person? Are Circadian rhythms something (that) you pay attention to?
- How you meet new people? Do you enjoy getting to know new people?
- Do you use the Facebook or Meetup or Clubhouse to meet like-minded people? Have you had mostly positive or negative experiences on social media?
Read how to use these realistic, vocabulary-rich, topic-specific discussion questions to improve your IELTS speaking and writing results.