Topics for Talking and Writing Skills

1. Physical Descriptions and Personality Descriptions
–  Describe the physical features of your mother/father/sibling/teacher/best friend.
–  Describe their personalities.

2. Talk/write about the similarities or differences between you and your friends.

3. Clothes/Shopping
–  Describe the clothes you changed into after school.
–  Describe clothing you need or want.
–  Talk about the last time you went to a shop to buy clothing.
–  Write about how you will pay for your next big purchase.

4. Talk about your weekend activities.

5. Communicate your likes and dislikes. Give reasons why.

6. Write/talk about events with family and friends.

7. Make a time-line of your life. Please describe any milestones or major events in your life.

8. Health Watch – Describe the symptoms of any sickness e.g. the flu.
–  Write/talk about an injury that a friend or you had.
–  Write a note to your teacher/boss, explaining why you are absent today.
–  Write a short paragraph on a conversation between you and your doctor. It should be based on an imaginary sickness.
–  Write/talk about stress in your life – the causes of stress for you, and how you feel when you are stressed.
–  Describe a stomach ache, toothache, sore throat, earache and headache.
What kind of doctor would you see if you had a toothache, a stomach ache, a broken bone?

9. Jobs
–  If you have a job, please talk about your duties.
–  If you have a particular job in mind, talk about the skills you will need for this job.
–  Create an imaginary interview for a job – based on what you would like to do.
–  Read some Help-Wanted ads in the papers. Talk about them.
–  Describe the job of a police officer, a salesperson, an accountant, a cashier, a chef, a doctor, a security guard, a taxi-driver, a bus conductor.
–  Describe a hospital, an office, a store.  Describe the physical space. How big is it, how many rooms does it have, what are the different kinds
of rooms, is it clean? Etc.?

10. School
–  Pretend you are your teacher. Now talk about your progress and strengths in school.
–  Talk about a student’s bad behaviour in school.
–  Why do you think students misbehave in school?
–  How can teachers make your lessons more interesting?
–  Write about your educational goals.
–  Create a portfolio of your English work.
–  Make a poster about ways to improve your English skills.

11. Let’s Eat
–  Write a food shopping list.
–  Compare different brands of food products e.g. 2 different brands of glucose biscuits.
–  Talk about a healthy diet.
–  Write a radio commercial for a food product e.g. Maggi noodles, Horlicks or Britannia NutriChoice biscuits or any food
product of your choice.

12. Are you interested in cricket (or any other sport)?
Describe a game that you saw recently – on TV or in school.

13. Talk about Time – Describe your day, mentioning the time e.g.
–  I don’t get up late on Sundays. I get up at eight o’clock.
–  Description and timings of breakfast, day’s activities, bus timings, evening activity, dinner etc.
–  Make a schedule of your ideal day.

14. Talk about any famous person whom you admire.

15. Describe your most recent bus ride, train ride, metro ride.

 16. Describe a wedding in your family.

 17. Talk about a time when you didn’t do as well as you should have (e.g. exam, interview etc) What was the situation?
What should you have done differently?

18. Movie Time
–  Describe a scene from a horror movie or a comedy.
–  Use many different adjectives to describe a movie.

19. Apologising
Create different situations where you would use the following ways of apologising:
–  I want to apologise to you (e.g. to a friend).
–  I need to apologise to you.
–  I owe you an apology.
–  I apologise.
–  I’m sorry.

20. Reacting To Good News:
        That’s great!
That’s fantastic!
That’s wonderful!
I’m happy to hear that!
I’m glad to hear that!

      Reacting To Bad News:
That’s terrible!
That’s awful!
That’s a shame!
That’s a pity!
How awful!

Please create sentences or situations, with some of the above.

21. What’s Your Opinion?
–  Should students be allowed to use calculators for Maths in class?
–  Should children be allowed to see any movie they want?
–  Should animals be used for medical research?

22. Choices
If you were given a choice to join any one of the following, for free, which one would you choose, and why?
–  Photography classes
–  Music classes
–  Dance classes
–  Football/Cricket classes
–  Computer programming classes
–  Art classes

23. How To Say It!
Asking for information –
Do you know/Can you tell me/Could you tell me/Could you please tell me/
Could you possibly tell me/Do you have any idea/Do you by any chance know what the home-work assignment is?
Please make as many sentences as you can, with the above.

24. Kaun Banega Crorepati
What would you do with the money if you won the biggest prize?

25. My Diary
Write in your diary about a time when you needed advice.
Why did you need advice? (What was the situation?)
Who did you ask for advice? What did you ask? What did the person tell you?
Did you follow the person’s advice?

26. Getting Emotional
What do you do when you get nervous/angry/tired/frightened/unhappy/bored/embarrassed/upset/jealous?