Conversation Questions: Education

• Where did you go to kindergarten?
• Where did you go to elementary school?
• Where did you go to junior high school?
• Where did you go to high school?
• Did you go to college or university?
• Where did you go?
• What did you study?
• How many years did you go?
• Did you work while you went there?
• Did you enjoy going to elementary school?
• Does your country have middle schools?
• What is the age that children begin school?
• How old are students they when they graduate?
• Did you go to a good high school?
• What do you remember about your teachers?
• Who was your favorite teacher?
• What teacher impressed you the most?
• Do you still stay in touch with your teachers?
• Did you have any teachers you didn't like?
• How many students were in your high school?
• Describe the students who attended your high school.
• Did they have a good influence on you?
• Did they make your childhood and teenage years harder or easier?
• Were there cliques in your high school? Were there gangs?
• Did you make friends in high school that you still keep in touch with?
• What subjects were you good at?
• What subjects were you bad at?
• Did you study a foreign language in school? Was it taught well?
• Do you know anyone who attended a private school? Do private schools offer higher quality education or are they just prestigious?
• Did you attend college?
• If you did, what made you decide to go to the college you did?
• Was it a good school?
• How many students attended it?
• How many students were in your biggest class? How many in your smallest class? Did you prefer small classes or big classes?
• Was it harder to study in college than in high school? How does college compare to high school? What advice would you give a high school student who is about to go to college?
• What did you major in? Why did you choose the major you did?
• Did you live in a dormitory while you went to college? Who were your roommates?
• Does your country provide a good public school system?
• Does your country have good public universities? If not, why do you think there is a lack of funding for education in your country?
• What realistic changes would you make to your country's attitude toward education?
• What role do you think human capital plays in the development of countries?
• How many years did you attend college?
• Did you study abroad?
• Do the elite in your country attend one or two universities?
• Do elite universities help or harm your country?
• Where do we learn the skills necessary to become a good student - in elementary, middle or high school?
• What are the skills that separate good students from bad students?
• Were good grades important to you?
• Did teachers grade students fairly? Did you ever feel like you should have gotten a better grade then you did in a class?
• Did you procrastinate studying? Did you ever pull an all nighter?
• Did you study with other students?
• Did classmates talk to each other much before or after class?
• Did you skip class very often?
• Do college professors give students syllabuses at the beginning of term? Were you clear on what professors expected of you?
• Are college tuitions reasonable in your country? Is it easy to get scholarships or government grants?
• Are there good colleges in your country?
• Do many people in your country study abroad?
• Are there any subjects you wanted to study but they weren't available at your school?
• Are women encouraged to pursue education?
• Are straight-A students smarter than others or just better at memorizing things? Did you really learn in school or did you just memorize information and pass tests?
• Do you know anyone who does not know how to read or write?
• Do you think teachers are paid enough? Do you think teachers are well educated?
• Do you think your teachers gave too much homework? How much homework should teachers assign students?
• Did you ride a bus or walk to school?
• Was school ever canceled for a day when you were a child?
• Do you think it is easier to learn as a child or as an adult?
• Is it difficult for people without a college education to get good jobs where you live?
• Does education guarantee a good job?
• What are the qualities of a good student?
• What are the qualities of a good teacher?
• Why do you think people become teachers?
• How much free time does a high school student in your country have?
• Do parents home-school their children in your country?
• What do you think of home schooling?
• Do you know anyone who was home schooled?
• Do you wish you had been home schooled?
• Are teachers the only ones qualified to teach children? What makes someone qualified to teach children?
• Can parents influence their children's schools? What can a parent do if he or she disapproves of a teacher's decision?
• Do children have a right to an education? Should education be free?
• Does your country provide a good public school system?
• What improvements does the school system need?
• Do you think your country should spend more money on schools?
• If a school gets more money, will the quality of education always improve?
• What would happen if public schools were abolished? Could children still get an education?
• Once you graduate from a university should you stop learning?
• What are some ways a person can continue to learn?
• Are college graduates smarter than people who did not go to college?
• Would you ever vote for a politician who did not attend college?
• Do the elite in your country attend only one or two universities? Do elite universities help or harm your country?
• What realistic changes would you make to your country's attitude toward education?
• Why do students cheat during tests and exams? How do they cheat?
• What is your attitude towards cheating? How should parents react? How should teachers react?
• Where do we learn the skills necessary to become a good student - in elementary, middle or high school?
• Should people go straight from school to a university, or do something different?
• What is a "genius"?
• Do teachers sometimes teach things that are not important?
• Are there things your school does not teach that you think it should?
• Are school uniforms good to have? Why or why not?
• Would you ever want to learn a third language?
• How important is curiosity in a student?
• Can you teach someone who has no desire to learn?
• What do you think about a gap year, is this something you would consider?
• Should people go straight from school to University, or do something different?
• Do you think it is necessary that there are windows in the classroom to provide for a proper learning atmosphere?
• What do you wish your teachers understood about you?
• Do you think a person can become a genius, or are they just born that way?
• What do you consider to be a "smart" or "slow" person?
• Are things your school teaches that you think are not important?
• Are school uniforms good to have? Why/why not?
• Do prefer school uniforms or casuals better?
• Would you ever want to learn a third language? [To be "trilingual"]
• What do you consider "hardworking" or 'lazy"?
• What is the role of schools in society?
• Do you enjoy going to school? If so, why if not why?
• What does your education mean to you?
• What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of state and private schools are?
• What would you do if you saw someone with a gun at school?
• Are college tuitions reasonable?
• Are foreign languages part of the curriculum? If so, which languages?
• Are most schools coeducational in your country?
• Are there any subjects/classes you wanted to study but they weren't available at your school/college?
• Do you have difficulty with school work?
• Do you think teachers are paid enough?
• Do you think your school is a good one? Why/why not?
• Do you think your teachers give too much homework?
• Do you think public speaking can improve your english?
• How can we improve our classroom?
• Why English is hard to learn at university level?
• How do you travel to school?
• How long must you go to college to get a degree?
• How much is too much homework? How should the homework load be managed?
• If you have not attended college, do you plan on doing so?
• What are some good ways to learn English?
• What are some important factors in determining which college to attend?
• What classes would you take?
• What do you study? What's your major?
• What is the average age of a high school graduate?
• What is your favorite class?
• What was (or is) your favorite subject? Why do you like it?
• Who selects the college you will attend -- you or your parents?
• Why are you studying a foreign language?
• Why is it helpful to learn a Second language ?
• Why is it sometimes very difficult to speak another language?
• Would you consider studying abroad?
• Do parents home-school their children in your country?
• What do you think of home-schooling?
• Do you know anyone who was home-schooled?
• Do you think that most parents influence what university their child will attend?
• Once you graduate from a university should you stop learning?
• What are some ways a person can continue to learn?
• Which is more important, the essential skills in life you've learned to develop on your own or the artificial structure in college about the "real" life?
• Which high schools and colleges are the best in your country?
• Which high schools and colleges are not so good in your country?
• We should not just prepare for life, but live it. Do you agree?
• What kind of world do you think this would be if people never went to school?
• Should education be free?
• Do the elite in your country attend only one or two universities?
• Do your children attend US schools? If so, how do their schools differ from those your children attended back home?
• Does your country have good public universities? If not, why do you think there is a lack of funding for education in your country?
• Why do students cheat during tests and exams?
• How do they cheat?
• What is your attitude towards cheating?
• What are the dangers of cheating?
• How should parents react?
• How should teachers react?
• What is the role of school and decision makers?
• What skills separate good students from bad students?
• Should people go straight from school to university, or do something different?
• Do you think a person can become a genius, or are they just born that way?
• Are things that your school teaches you that you think are not important?
• Do prefer school uniforms or casuals clothes better?