Choose a topic one step below what you can read: if you read B2 texts, B1 topics will make you talk the most. Below are 40 topics in three levels, each with starter questions that open a conversation instead of closing it. Pick one topic per session, ask the first question, and follow the answer, not the list. At the end you'll find a 20-minute session plan for a partner or an AI tutor.
A quick win you can use today: after any answer, ask "What was that like?" or "How come?". These two follow-ups keep almost any conversation going.
A1–A2: everyday life (topics 1–12)
Short questions, present and past simple, real-life answers.
| # | Topic | Starter questions |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Your home | Where do you live? What's your favourite room? What can you see from your window? |
| 2 | Family | How many people are in your family? Who do you look like? Who do you call most often? |
| 3 | Daily routine | What time do you get up? What do you usually eat for breakfast? What's the best part of your day? |
| 4 | Food | What's your favourite dish? Can you cook plov? What did you eat yesterday? |
| 5 | Weekends | What did you do last weekend? Do you prefer staying at home or going out? |
| 6 | Weather and seasons | What's the weather like today? Which season do you like best, and why? |
| 7 | Shopping | Where do you buy food? Do you like bazaars or supermarkets more? |
| 8 | Transport | How do you get to work or school? How long does it take? |
| 9 | Friends | Who is your best friend? How did you meet? What do you do together? |
| 10 | Phones and apps | Which app do you use most? How many hours a day are you on your phone? |
| 11 | Holidays | What's your favourite holiday? What do you eat on that day? |
| 12 | Your town | What's your town famous for? Where would you take a visitor? |
B1: experiences and opinions (topics 13–26)
Questions that need a reason, a story or a comparison.
| # | Topic | Starter questions |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Travel | What's the best trip you've ever been on? Where would you go if money were no problem? |
| 14 | Learning English | Why are you learning English? What's the hardest part for you? What's worked best so far? |
| 15 | Work and study | What do you do? What do you like about it, and what would you change? |
| 16 | Childhood | What games did you play as a child? Is childhood today easier or harder? |
| 17 | Films and series | What have you watched recently? Would you recommend it? Why? |
| 18 | Music | What do you listen to when you're sad or tired? Have you been to a concert? |
| 19 | Sport and health | Do you do any sport? What's one healthy habit you'd like to start? |
| 20 | Weddings and celebrations | What's the most memorable to‘y you've been to? What would your ideal celebration look like? |
| 21 | Money | Are you a saver or a spender? What's the best thing you've bought this year? |
| 22 | Neighbours and the mahalla | Do you know your neighbours well? How has your neighbourhood changed? |
| 23 | Social media | Which platform do you use most? Has social media made people happier? |
| 24 | Food culture | How is Uzbek food different from other cuisines you've tried? What should every visitor try? |
| 25 | Plans and dreams | Where do you see yourself in five years? What's one thing you want to learn? |
| 26 | Memories | Tell me about a day you'll never forget. Who were you with? |
B2: issues and ideas (topics 27–40)
Questions that ask you to compare, speculate and defend a view.
| # | Topic | Starter questions |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | Education | Should school focus more on exams or on practical skills? What would you change about universities in Uzbekistan? |
| 28 | Technology and AI | Which jobs will AI change most? Would you trust an AI doctor? |
| 29 | Cities vs villages | Why do young people move to Tashkent? What do cities lose when they grow fast? |
| 30 | Work–life balance | Is it normal to answer work messages at night? What would a four-day week change? |
| 31 | Environment | What's the biggest environmental problem where you live? Whose job is it to fix it? |
| 32 | Generations | What do older people understand better than young people? And the other way round? |
| 33 | Tradition and change | Which traditions should stay exactly the same? Which ones could change? |
| 34 | Tourism | Is more tourism always good for a city like Samarkand? How can locals benefit? |
| 35 | Success | How do you define success? Is it possible to be successful without being rich? |
| 36 | News and fake news | Where do you get your news? How do you check if something is true? |
| 37 | Languages | Should everyone learn English? Will translation apps make language learning unnecessary? |
| 38 | Health systems | Should healthy food be cheaper than junk food? Who should pay for that? |
| 39 | Living abroad | Would you live abroad permanently? What would you miss most? |
| 40 | Happiness | What makes a day a good day? Are people today happier than their grandparents? |
Follow-up questions that work with every topic
The starter question matters less than the second and third question. These fit almost any answer:
- What was that like?
- How come? (= Why?, but friendlier)
- What do you mean by …?
- Can you give me an example?
- Would you do it again?
- Has that always been the case?
- What would you do differently?
- What about in your family / city / country?
A typical mistake is to treat a list of topics like an interview: question, answer, next question. Real conversation goes deeper into one answer before moving on.
Interview style (weak):
A: Do you like travelling?
B: Yes.
A: What's your favourite food?
Conversation style (strong):
A: What's the best trip you've ever been on?
B: Probably Khiva, two years ago.
A: Oh, what was that like?
B: Amazing. We stayed inside the old walls, and at night it was completely quiet.
A: Would you go back?
B: Definitely, but in spring. It was far too hot in August.
A 20-minute practice session with a partner
- Warm-up (2 min). Each person talks about their day for one minute. No corrections.
- Choose a topic (1 min). Pick one from your level or one level below.
- Round 1 (6 min). Person A asks the starter question and at least three follow-ups. Person B answers with a reason and an example each time.
- Round 2 (6 min). Swap roles on the same topic. Hearing the same questions again helps you reuse words you just learned.
- Mistake notes (3 min). Each partner writes down two sentences they heard that were wrong or unnatural, and you correct them together.
- Repeat (2 min). Each person gives a one-minute summary of their answers, using the corrections.
Speak English for the whole 20 minutes, even when you get stuck. Use How do you say …? rather than switching to Uzbek or Russian.
If you can't find a regular partner, the pros and cons of clubs, online partners and AI are compared in speaking sherik topish yoki AI.
The same session with an AI tutor
An AI partner is patient and always available, but it follows your lead. Give it clear instructions, for example:
Let's practise the topic "Tradition and change" at B2 level. Ask me one question at a time. After each answer, ask a follow-up question about what I said. After six questions, list my three most important mistakes with corrections and a short explanation.
Answer by voice if you can: typing gives you time to think, and real conversation doesn't. More prompts like this are in Learn English with AI.
Exercise: open the question
Rewrite each yes/no question as an open question that invites a longer answer.
- Do you like your job?
- Did you enjoy the wedding?
- Is Tashkent a good city for students?
- Do you use social media?
- Was the exam difficult?
- Do you want to live abroad?
Answers
Several answers are possible. Examples:
- What do you like most about your job?
- What was the best moment of the wedding?
- What makes Tashkent good, or not so good, for students?
- How do you use social media, and how much time do you spend on it?
- Which part of the exam was the hardest, and why?
- Where would you like to live abroad, and what would you miss about home?
Open questions usually start with what, how, which, why or where, and often combine two ideas.
For conversation openers in Uzbek with explanations, see 30 ta conversation starter. For routines you can do alone between sessions, see English speaking practice at home.
Talking through the 40 topics with Bandi
A topic list is useful only if you actually talk. In BandMate, you can pick a topic and have a voice conversation with Bandi, who asks follow-up questions and then shows corrections for grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation. One topic a day covers the whole list in about six weeks.
Add BandMate as a preferred source on Google
