Would you like to have conversations in English but don’t know what to talk about?
In this post, I’ll share some of the best conversational English topics that you can discuss with native speakers, teachers, or other learners.
Asking and answering questions is key to having an enjoyable conversation in English. So you’ll find some example questions that you can use for each of these conversational English topics.
These will help you practise your conversational skills and connect with others, so you can improve your speaking and learn from other people too.
Let’s check out these 40 conversational English topics!
Discussing travel experiences is a great way to practice English. You can describe places, activities, and cultures. You can talk about holidays, places that you’ve visited and would like to visit. And don’t forget to ask for travel recommendations for your next trip!
Questions:
We all love food, don’t we? Talking about food is a universal topic and can lead to discussions about cultures and traditions.
Questions:
There's music you hate, music you love and music you don’t care about. Talk about it. You can learn a lot about someone's personality and interests, and you might even discover some new artists that you’ll love.
Questions:
Humans love stories because we think in stories. Movies and TV series tell stories so these make the perfect topic for conversation, especially if you’re a movie enthusiast. TV shows are also worth discussing.
Questions:
Don’t tell me you’ve always liked going to school. This could be a great topic of discussion because you might have some great stories to tell about this topic.
Questions:
Everyone has a hobby. For example, I love learning languages, as you probably know!. I can talk to you about this for hours and I bet you love discussing your hobbies too.
Questions:
I love my family and I hope you love yours too. Let’s have a conversation about it.
Questions:
Maybe you’re a football fan or a tennis player. Or maybe you don’t do sport but you like watching it on TV. A friend of mine can talk about his favourite football team all night. Can you do that too?
Questions:
Technology is everywhere and we all have our own opinions about it. Some people hate it, some people are addicted to it. This is why technology is a topic that can make anyone talk.
Questions:
We’ve all read at least one book in our life and you don’t need to be an avid reader to discuss books (although here at StoryLearning we're a bunch of book lovers!).
By the way, if you like reading, check out these book recommendations for English learners.
Questions:
I have a friend who dislikes the world of fashion but when he buys a new pair of shoes, he’s always keen to talk about them. So, it doesn’t matter if you don’t follow fashion trends. You can always talk about the clothes you like wearing.
Questions:
We should do more to protect our planet. So why not start talking about how we could pollute less?
Questions:
Traditions, celebrations, national events, religion, special days. You can talk about culture and customs for hours.
Questions:
This is a topic that is relevant to most adult learners of English. You can talk about jobs you’ve done, jobs you wouldn’t like to do, and weird jobs that are unique to your country.
Questions
I bet you care about your health. I care about mine a lot! So let’s have a conversation about what we do to stay healthy. Be careful though. Asking about someone else’s health might not be polite in some cultures.
Questions:
Personal growth and development is a motivational and inspiring topic. Once I even discovered something new about myself simply by talking about this topic.
Questions:
I'm sure you disliked some of the teachers you had but you also have a teacher that has a special place in your heart. Discussing teachers can bring back lovely memories.
Questions:
People spend their weekends in different ways and weekends are always good topics for conversation. This is especially true at the beginning and end of the working week!
Questions:
There’s always something newsworthy that you can talk about. I talk about current news events all the time and this is a conversation topic that will never die.
Questions:
This is a great topic to practice the present perfect in English!
Questions:
This topic can include any people (celebrities, writers, athletes, singers, etc.).
Questions:
A great topic to practise vocabulary for furniture and objects around the house.
Questions:
Speak in English about English so you can improve your English. It sounds like a slogan, but it’s true!
Questions:
Nobody knows what will happen in the future, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t talk about it. It’s also a great topic to practise future forms.
Questions:
This is a question that can get anyone to talk. You can make it fun or serious, up to you. Here are some possibilities.
Questions:
This is one of my favourite questions. It can be adapted to any topic and it’s especially useful if you want to practise the English conditional tense.
Questions:
A light topic that's useful to practise vocabulary around personality, relationships and activities. You can use it to make new friends too!
Questions:
I have many apps and I can tell you my top three favourite apps that I like using and why. I’m sure you can do that too. By the way, if you want to learn English with apps, here are the 20 best apps to learn English.
Questions:
I have a friend who’s on every social media platform that exists. He would be a great conversation partner for this topic!
Questions:
We all know what we’re like so we naturally have something to say about our personality. This might be a little hard though because we don’t normally do it, but talking about your own personality can help you discover new things about yourself too.
And it’s the perfect topic to practise advanced English vocabulary to describe characters and personality traits.
Questions:
Simply asking “How do you feel today?” might be all you need to have a great conversion. But here are more questions that you could use to talk about emotions.
Questions:
Once I talked with a friend about what loved about his city and he made me fall in love with it too. I think this is a good reason why we should talk about cities.
Questions:
This is a personal topic that can help you make a deeper connection with the person you’re discussing it with.
Questions:
This is probably one of the most popular conversational English topics. Don’t talk about it for too long though. Some people don’t find it very interesting!
Questions:
This is a controversial topic. A friend of mine always talks about aliens because he believes in them. I’m not sure, but I don’t mind talking about them.
Questions:
Telling jokes is an art and you might know some jokes in your first language. Can you tell them in English?
Here’s one: I couldn’t repair your brakes, so I made your horn louder!
Questions:
Stereotypes are often based on false assumptions about certain groups of people. If you talk about them, you might discover why these ideas are not correct. This is a topic that can really help you build an open mind.
Questions:
This is a topic that anyone who has a pet would love talking about!
Questions:
What do you think of when you think of “art”? A friend of mine can’t think of anything but paintings. But there are many forms of art that you can talk about: music, sculptures, literature, theaters, and many others. Oh, and you don’t need to be an artist to have a conversation about art.
Questions:
Not everyone is into cars, but if you meet someone who likes them, you might have a never-ending conversation with them!
Questions:
I could spend entire nights telling you about my childhood memories. Is it the same for you?
Questions:
What do you think of these conversational English topics? Do they make you feel like you want to go out there and have conversations?
Having conversations in English can open a whole new world of opportunities.
So, don't be afraid to put yourself out there and start talking.
The more you talk, the more you will learn, and the more doors will open up for you!
If you need a little bit more help to start speaking, check out these common English phrases to sound more natural when you speak.
