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List of Independent Speaking Prompts
By: TFB06 EQuest Academy
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North Star Intermediate and High Intermediate
I. Free- choice
1. Talk about a specific time when you did something
obsessively. For example, did
you go to extremes playing video games, worrying about an exam,
or practicing a
sport or music? What did you do? What were the good and bad
results? Explain.
2. Tell a story about yourself. What animal, plant, or other
nonhuman thing would you
be? Describe your abilities and traits. You may choose to speak
about a person you
know well, instead of your self.
3. Do you think tourists should visit the long-necked women of
the Padaung tribe?
4. Compare and contrast your views on marriage with the views of
a partner.
Highlight some of the similarities and differences.
5. Describe a difficult experience and how you overcome it.
Include details and
examples in your explanation.
6. Describe a time when you experienced a natural disaster or
unusual weather event.
Explain what happened and how it affected you.
7. Should people donate money and volunteer time to help others?
Why or why not?
8. What is the most memorable meal you have had? Describe the
experience of eating
this meal. Use details.
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II. Pair-choices
1. When a new technology is released, some people like to try it
right away, while
others prefer to wait until the technology becomes more
established and popular. How
do you feel about new technology? Explain your answer with
details and examples.
2. Some schools, usually elementary through high school, have
dress codes or require
students to wear uniforms. (This is not very common in colleges
and universities,
except at military schools) What do you think of elementary
schools or high schools
having a dress code or uniform policy? Include details and
examples in your
explanation.
Barrons I) Free-Choice: 1) Describe an ideal marriage partner.
What qualities do you think are most
important for a husband or wife?
2) Explain how birthdays are celebrated in your country?
3) Where would you like to study in The United States?
4) A possession is an object that you own. If you were asked to
choose one
possession that you prize highly, which on would you choose?
Why? What makes
this possession especially valuable to you?
5) Which city in the world would you like to visit?
6) If you were asked to choose one place in your country where
would you take a
tourist, which one would you choose? Why? What is especially
impressive about
the place?
7) In your opinion, what are the characteristics of a good son
or daughter in a
family?
8) Think about a book that you have enjoyed reading. Why did you
like it? What
was especially interesting about the book?
II) Paired-Choice:
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1) Some people like to watch the news on the television. Other
people prefer to
read the news in a newspaper. Still others use computers to get
the news. How do
you prefer to be informed about the news and why?
2) Some students would rather write a paper than take a test.
Other students
would rather take a test instead of writing a paper. Which
option do you prefer and
why?
3) Some students live in dormitories on campus. Other live in
apartments off
campus. Which living situation do you think is better and
why?
4) Some people enjoy living in a location that has a warm
climate all year. Other
people like to live in a place where the seasons change. Which
type of climate do
you prefer and why?
5) Some people believe that the best way to succeed is to set
goals and work hard
to achieve them. Other people think that hard work is not as
important as good luck.
Which point of view do you think is true and why?
6) Some people attracted to jobs that include a great deal of
travel. Other people
prefer jobs that allow them to return to their homes every
evening. Which type of
job opportunity would you prefer and why?
7) Some people think that it is better to travel as part of a
tour group when they
are visiting foreign country. Other people prefer to make their
own travel plans so
that they can independently. Which approach do you think is
better and why?
8) Some students prefer to attend a school that provides
education for women
only or men only. Other students prefer to attend a
co-educational school for both
women and men. Which environment do you think is better and why?
Use specific
reasons and examples to support your opinion.
Michigan I. Free choice
1. If your school planned to offer an additional class, what
class would you want it
to be and why?
2. What is the best way to build school spirit and why?
3. Think about a helpful classmate. Give three reasons to
explain what features
make this person so helpful.
4. What was your most rewarding class?
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5. Summarize the homework and major school projects that you did
last week.
6. Talk about the best sports coach or other team leader you
ever had
7. Explain how you recently chose to read a specific book
8. Summarize the process of applying for college in your
country
9. What is your favorite type of reading material, and why?
10. Explain where you would like to go during vacation from
school, and why
11. What was your most challenging class?
12. What is the most difficult sport, and why?
13. At some schools, students can design their own class and
study independently,
getting college credit for their work. What do you think of
this?
14. Most students use the Internet to study. Some do research on
the Internet.
Some post questions or join discussion groups. What are the most
useful ways for
students to use the Internet?
15. What is your favorite school club, and why?
16. Summarize how to prepare for a test
17. Teachers can gain a reputation for being just, or fair, with
students. What
features make a teacher seem fair to students?
18. Think of a day from your childhood that was particularly
happy. Explain what
happened and what made it so happy.
II. Pair-choice
1. If you planned to become an elementary school teacher, would
you take an
elective course on child psychology or on physical
education?
2. Are college athletics a valuable part of a schools offerings
or not? Why?
3. Which do you like better, sciences and humanities, and
why?
4. Do you prefer to take handwritten notes during a lecture or
to type your notes
directly into a laptop computer? Why?
5. In most parts of the United States, the driving age is 16
years, but in some rural
areas, it is 14 years. Give your opinion of this situation.
6. Some universities hold classes Monday through Thursday, while
others hold
them from Monday through Friday. Which do you prefer, and
why?
7. Some schools have shorter academic quarters around 8 weeks
while others
are longer 10 to 20 weeks. Which would you prefer, and why?
8. Some students save their textbooks. Others sell them back to
the schools
bookstore. Which would you do?
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9. Most schools support extra-curricular activities, such as
clubs and sports teams.
Some schools pay for these activities, some require that
students pay, and some
use a mix of school funds and student payments. Which do you
think is preferable,
and why?
10. Do you prefer to learn through hands-on experiences or
through reading and
examining others experiences? Why?
11. A sociology class requires that students expose themselves
to day-to-day work
in a local social service agency. To do this, students can
choose to volunteer at
one specific agency, or they can choose to visit two or three
agencies and write up
their observations. Which would you choose, and why?
12. When students go to a university, many of them take a job
for the first time.
Some people say that this teaches them responsibility and
prepares them to enter
the workforce. Others say that working distracts them from their
most important
task: studying. Do you think it is better to work when going to
university or to
wait until graduation?
13. After college, some students decline to enter the working
world right away.
Some travel to see the world while others volunteer for an
organization like the
Peace Corps. Which do you think is better going right to work or
seeing the
world/volunteering and why?
Kaplan I. Free-choice
1. Describe your countrys national anthem or national flag.
Explain how it is used
in modern society. Include details and examples.
2. Describe an important place in your life. Tell what the place
is like and explain
why it is important to you. Include details and examples to
support your
explanation.
3. Describe an important issue in your field of study
4. Describe an important festival in your country
5. Describe an important issue in choosing a university at which
to study. Include
details and examples to support your explanation.
II. Pair-choice
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1. Some people think that wildlife does not belong outside of
its natural habitat.
They do not think that zoos should exist. Others believe that
zoos serve an
educational purpose that is more important than the rights of
the wild animals.
Which side of this argument do you support and why? Include
details and
examples in your explanation.
Princeton Reviews I. Free choice
1. Describe the house that you live in
2. If you had an entire month to do whatever you would like to
do, what would it
be? Include details and examples to support your
explanation.
3. Describe an academic subject that interests you, and explain
why you find the
subject interesting. Include details and examples to support
your explanation.
II. Pair choice
1. Some universities have large, lecture-based classes, whereas
others have
smaller, discussion-based classes. Which do you think is better
and why? Include
details and examples to support your explanation.
2. Some people believe that same-sex schools are more effective,
whereas other
people believe that schools with both boys and girls are better.
Which approach do
you think is better and why? Include details and examples to
support your
explanation.
Longman I. Free choice
1. What are the characteristics of a good neighbor? Use reasons
and details to support
your response.
2. What is your favorite holiday? Use reasons and details to
support your response.
3. Which person has helped you the most to get where you are
today, and how has he
or she helped you? Use example to support your response.
4. If you suddenly got $10 million, what would you spend it on?
Use details to
support your response.
5. What does your dream house look like? Use details to support
your response.
6. What is your favorite food? Use reasons and details to
support your response.
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7. What are the good characteristics of a good parent? Use
reasons and details to
support your response.
8. If you can live any where, where would you live? Use details
to support your
response.
9. What person who is alive today would you most like to meet?
Use reasons and
details to support your response.
10. Why are you preparing to take the TOEFL test? Use reasons to
support your
response.
11. If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
Use details to support
response.
12. At what age should a person be allowed to drive? Use reasons
to support response.
13. What is the best excuse to give your teacher when you have
not done the
homework? Use reasons to support response.
14. What is your favorite day of the year? Use reasons to
support response.
15. What change would you like your government to make? Use
reasons to support
response.
II. Pair choice
1. Do you prefer to be in a large or a small class? Use reasons
to support your
response.
2. Would you prefer to go out to dinner or stay home and cook a
meal? Use reasons to
support your response.
3. Do you think it is better to marry before or after the age of
30? Use reasons to
support your response.
4. Do you prefer to take essay exams or multiple-choice exams?
Use reasons to
support your response.
5. Would you prefer to take a trip by plane or by train? Use
reasons to support
response.
6. Would you like to live in a big city or a small town? Use
reasons to support
response.
7. Do you think it is better to study a lone or study with
friends? Use reasons to
support response.
8. Do you prefer to play sports or watch sports? Use reasons to
support response.
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9. Would you prefer to go to the opera or to a football game?
Use reasons and details
to support response.
10. Would you prefer to take the TOEFL test or a math test? Use
reasons and details
to support response.
11. If your teacher makes a mistake, it is better to correct the
teacher or ignore the
mistake? Use reasons to support response.
12. Is it better to take changes in life or play it safe?
13. Is it better to have a career that pay a lot of money but
keeps you away from your
family or a career that does not play so much but allows you
time with your family?
Use reasons to support response.
14. Do you make decisions quickly or take your time making them?
Use reasons to
support response.
15. Do you think children should always obey their parents, or
are there times when it
is not necessary for children to obey?
