Family
Do you have a large family or a small family?
Can you tell me something about them?
How much time do you manage to spend with members of your family?
What sorts of things do you like to do together?
Did/Do you get on well with your family? [Why?]
Accommodation
What kind of accommodation do you live in? What’s it like?
Have you always lived there?
What are the main advantages of this [accommodation]?
What changes would you like to make to improve it?
Would it be easy for you to move to another accommodation?
Do many people in your country live in such accommodation?
Neighbourhood
Which part of town do you live in?
What’s it like?
What kind of shops are there in your neighbourhood?
Do you get along well with your neighbours?
What’s difficult about living there?
Education (students)
What do you study?
What is special about this subject?
Is there anything you find difficult about it?
Where do you study…? What’s your university/college like?
Education (graduates)
Do you have higher education?
What have you studied at university?
What did you like about your studies?
Was there anything you found difficult?
Job
What’s your job?
Is it a common job in your country?
What are your working hours like?
Do you get a lot of vacation and off time?
Are you thinking of changing your job?
Cold weather
Have you ever been in very cold weather? [When?]
How often is the weather cold where you come from?
Are some parts of your country colder than others? [Which parts?]
Would you prefer to live in a hot place or a cold place? [Why?]
Laughing
What kinds of things make you laugh?
Do you like making other people laugh? [Why/Why not?]
Do you think it’s important for people to laugh? *Why/Why not?+
Is laughing the same as feeling happy, do you think? [Why/Why not?]
Keeping in contact with people
How do you usually contact your friends? [Why?]
Do you prefer to contact different people in different ways? [Why?]
Do you find it easy to keep in contact with friends and family? [Why/Why not?]
In your country, did people in the past keep in contact in the same ways as they do today? [Why/Why not?]
Daily Routine
What would you like to change in your daily routine?
Are all your days the same?
Tell me about your typical weekday and your typical weekend.
What is the balance of work/study and free time in your normal day?
Visitors
What would you suggest a visitor should see and do in your country?
Are there any traditional arts or music you would recommend?
Tell me about the kind of foreign visitors or tourists who go to your country.
In what ways has tourism changed your country?
Festivals
Tell me about the most important festival in your country.
What special food and activities are connected with this festival?
What do you most enjoy about it?
Do you think festivals are important for a country? [Why?]
Dancing
Do you enjoy dancing? [Why/Why not?]
Has anyone ever taught you to dance? [Why/Why not?]
Tell me about any traditional dancing in your country.
Do you think that traditional dancing will be popular in the future? [Why/Why not?]
Musical instruments
Which instrument do you like listening to most? [Why?]
Have you ever learned to play a musical instrument? [Which one?]
Do you think children should learn to play a musical instrument at school? [Why/Why not?]
How easy would it be to learn to play an instrument without a teacher? [Why?]
Traffic where you live
How do most people travel to work where you live?
What traffic problems are there in your area? [Why?]
How do traffic problems affect you?
How would you reduce the traffic problems in your area?
Your friends
Do you prefer to have one particular friend or a group of friends? [Why?]
Are your friends mostly your age or different ages? [Why?]
What do you like doing most with your friend/s?
The last time you saw your friends, what did you do together?
What makes a friend into a good friend?
Do you think it’s important to keep in contact with friends you knew as a child? *Why/Why not?+
Food and cooking
What kinds of food do you like to eat?
What kind of new food would you like to try? [Why?]
Do you like cooking? [Why/Why not?] What was the last meal you cooked?
Do you prefer home-cooked food or food from restaurants? [Why?]
Leisure
Do you have any hobbies or interests? [What are they?]
How did you become interested in (whatever hobby/interest the candidate mentions)?
What is there to do in your free time in (candidate’s hometown/village)?
How do you usually spend your holidays?
Is there anywhere you would particularly like to visit? [Why?]
Your favourite place
What place do you most like to visit?
How often do you visit this place? Why do you like it so much?
Is it popular with many other people?
Has it changed very much since you first went there? [In what way?]
Your country
Which part of your country do most people live in?
Tell me about the main industries there.
How easy is it to travel around your country?
Has your country changed much since you were a child?
Colour
What’s your favourite colour? Why?
Do you like the same colours now as you did when you were younger? [Why/Why not?]
What can you learn about a person from the colours they like?
Do any colours have a special meaning in your culture?
Entertainment
Do you prefer relaxing at home or going out in the evening? [Why?]
When you go out for an evening, what do you like to do?
How popular is this with other people in your country?
Is there any kind of entertainment you do not like? [Why/Why not?]
Clothes
How important are clothes and fashion to you? [Why/Why not?]
What kind of clothes do you dislike? [Why?]
How different are the clothes you wear now from those you wore 10 years ago?
What do you think the clothes we wear say about us?
Fruits
Do you eat fruits?
How often do you eat fruits?
Where do you buy your fruits from?
Do you think it’s important for people to eat fruits? Why/Why not?]
Books
Do you like reading books?
What kind of books do you like to read? [Why?]
Where do you like to read? [Why?]
Do others in your family read books too?
Do you usually buy your books from a special place? [Where?]
Telephone calls
How often are you on the phone?
Do you like calling friends or family more often? [Why?]
Did you call your friends a lot when you were a child?
Do you think children should have to pay their own telephone bills? [Why/Why not?]
Technology at home/office
How often do you use electric appliances at home/office?
How do you think they help you with your chores?
Are there any other advantages?
Are there any drawbacks to using these appliances?
Do you think people should use electric appliances more often or less often than they do now?
[Why/Why not?]
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