Hello fellow teachers and welcome to part two of my blog series where I share ideas for EFL/ESL conversation topics that go beyond the typical themes us English educators tend to use in our language classrooms. In case you missed it, you can also read the first instalment, where I focused on speaking topics related to work and employment.
This second part of the series will focus on health and daily life, and all the topics set out below have been tried and tested in my own English lessons. As I mentioned before in part one, all of these conversation subjects can be used with intermediate or advanced adult learners, and work well with individuals, groups, online and in-person classes. Again, I’ve also added a few links to articles that can be used as background reading or even be given to students as reading and pronunciation practice. Hopefully, the topics below will give you a few fresh ideas for your own speaking lessons!
The 5 am Club
My first recommendation is to do a conversation lesson on something called the ‘5 am Club’. Originally from a self-help book by Robin Sharma, this topic is about people who get up at 5 am every day and establish a productive morning routine consisting of exercise and personal development. In our conversation lessons, my students and I debated the benefits and drawbacks of waking up so early every day and whether productivity culture has become too extreme in recent years, and learners were also able to talk more generally about their own routines. As an extension activity, I gave students a list of different people (for example, university students, parents with young children, remote workers, etc.) and got them to speak about how easy it would be for each of these types of people to adopt the same routine set out in the 5 am Club book. If you want a good article to use in your lessons, I suggest using this one from HuffPost.
Nutritional powders: do they really work?
It’s no secret that being health-conscious has been a big trend for a few years now, and this next speaking topic for EFL/ESL adults is all about supplement powders and whether they really are good for our health. In my own speaking lessons, I got my students to firstly read extracts from this article about green super powders, then we discussed whether supplements can ever replace a balanced diet, why people are so attracted to quick health fixes, and how social media has contributed to the popularity of certain nutritional supplements and diets. Also, this topic was a great opportunity for students to talk about their own eating habits and whether they agreed with the idea of taking supplements.
Cold water plunges
Continuing with the subject of health, this next topic is about the rising popularity of cold water plunges. This worked really well as a conversation topic with adult EFL/ESL learners because they had quite strong opinions about whether swimming in freezing water seemed appealing to them or a big no-go. In my lessons, students discussed the possible health benefits, whether they would ever try it themselves, and why people are keen to follow extreme wellness trends. With this topic, you can also naturally extend the conversation by asking students whether they’ve ever tried any popular wellness trends and get them to talk more generally about what they do to stay physically and mentally healthy. To find out more about this subject, take a look at this article.
Sunday scaries
The reason why this next subject has been so successful in my conversation lessons is because all of my adult students related to having the so-called 'Sunday scaries’ (the feeling of dread and anxiety you get on a Sunday evening before the working week begins), and therefore, felt confident talking about it in English. In your own speaking lessons, you could get your learners to discuss how they tend to feel on Sunday evenings, what they do to relax or prepare for the week ahead, and whether their weekends feel long enough to properly switch off from work or study. Students can also brainstorm some ideas and tips for how best to overcome the Sunday scaries, or discuss whether they agree with the advice set out in this article.
The drawer of doom
The final topic in this blog post worked really well as a light-hearted theme with my adult learners. The ‘drawer of doom’ refers to that one drawer that many of us have in our homes where random and useless items are put and forgotten about. In my classes, this quickly became a fun and relatable discussion point, as students shared what kinds of things they tend to hoard, how often they sort through their belongings to get rid of unwanted things, and also more broadly, the psychology behind why some people find it difficult to throw away items or keep their homes organised. If you have more time, I highly recommend reading this article with students, which focuses on the benefits of recycling things commonly found in a people’s drawer of doom. From personal experience, I found that this article was a great way to extend my speaking lessons by discussing waste and sustainability.
Do you have any great conversation lesson ideas related to health and lifestyles you'd like to share with other EFL/ESL teachers? Leave a message in the comments!
I hope you found part two of this blog series useful. Do check back regularly for new instalments of this series, or follow me on Instagram and Pinterest for updates.
Are you looking for EFL/ESL classroom activities to use with teens and adults? Take a look at some of my downloadable resources:
⭐️ A1–B2 grammar speaking task cards (printable cards + digital PowerPoint versions)
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