Narrate & Describe

• When you were a child, what did you imagine your life would be like as an adult? How is your life the same or different from how you thought it would be? 
  • If your plan became reality, explain the process of making it happen. Is it what you expected?
  • If you chose a different path, explain why you changed plans. 
• What is the next holiday you will celebrate? What does your family usually do for this holiday? What specific plans would you like to make for this celebration?

Complications

• You and your friend have been planning a trip to Australia for months. You have made flight and hotel arrangements. The trip is next week. Unfortunately, you have a family emergency and can't go on the trip now. Explain to your friend what happened and give suggestions of what to do now.
• You ordered some new furniture for your house. The furniture was supposed to be delivered in the morning, so you got permission to stay home from work until noon. The furniture still has not arrived. Decide how you will handle this situation and call either the furniture store or your boss. Explain the situation and offer some possible solutions.

Support Opinion

• Do you think that children should have pets? Why or why not?
• When you have an important task to do, do you prefer to wake up early or stay up late to complete it? Why?

Community/Work Topics

Narrate & Describe

• Explain what you do on a typical day of work from when you first arrive to when you return home.
• Describe your home city. How is it similar or different to other cities you have visited?
• Talk about your first job. Where did you work? What was the daily routine like? 

Complications

• You have been helping with the plans for a big community event. You invited a popular band to perform at the event, but they cancelled at the last minute. Explain to the planning committee what happened and give suggestions on how you will respond to this cancellation. 
• The team you work with is supposed to give an important presentation this afternoon. Unfortunately, the computer in the room is not working so you cannot use the presentation slides like you had planned. Explain to your audience what happened and give some suggestions on how to work around this problem.

Support Opinion

• Do you think it is more important to enjoy your work or to make a lot of money? Why do you think that?
• A popular chain restaurant is going to open in your neighborhood. Do you think this will have a positive or negative impact on where you live? Why?

Practice: Academic Topics

Narrate & Describe

• Watch a video from TED-ELinks to an external site. about an academic topic. Then summarize the information from the video with as much detail as you can.
• A lot of learning happens informally. Talk about a time when you had a question or interest in a topic and learned about it on your own by reading or watching videos about it. Why were you so interested in this topic? How was learning independently easier or harder for you in this situation compared to learning in a class?

Complications

• The local school wants to increase the number of students and the size of the building. You do not think this is a good idea. Explain your reasons and give possible suggestions of what the school could do instead.
• You had a final paper due at midnight last night for one of your courses. Unfortunately, you did not have enough time to finish the paper. Talk to your professor about the situation and give a few possible solutions.

Support Opinion

• Do you think it is more important for cities to grow to support the people who live there or for the growth to be limited to protect the environment? Explain your reasons.
• What do you think is the most important factor for a healthy life? Explain your opinion with examples and reasons.