PROFICIENCY SPEAKING EXAM QUESTIONS

Family, friends, personality

1. Is your personality more similar to your mother or father?

2. Do you think we are born with our personalities or do we develop them
because of what happens to us?

3. What are the important qualities of a good son or daughter?

4. In your opinion, what are some important characteristics of a friend?
5.  Many students have to live with roommates while going to school or university. What
are some of the important qualities of a good roommate? 

6. In your opinion, what are the most important characteristics that a person needs to
be successful in life?
7. Do you agree that people are never satisfied with what they have; they always want
something more or something different?
8. Do you agree that only people who earn a lot of money are successful?
9. Do your parents put any pressure on you to be successful?
10. What is your biggest achievement so far?
11. Do you agree that parents or other adult relatives should make important decisions
for their older (15 to 18 year-old) teenage children?
12. Do you agree that classmates are a more important influence than parents on a
child’s success in school?
13. Do you agree that it is better for children to grow up in the countryside than in a big
city?
14. Do you agree that children should be required to help with household tasks as soon
as they are able to do so?
15. Do you agree that we should never judge a person by external appearances?
16. Do you agree that it is better to be a member of a group than to be the leader of a
group?

Education 

17. Why do you want to study at university?

18. Does your country provide a good education system?
19. If you could make one important change in a school that you attended, what change
would you make?
20. Why do students cheat during tests and exams? How do they cheat?
21. Are there things schools do not teach that you think they should?
22. What do you think about taking a gap year? Is this something you would consider?
23. Do you agree that students should wear uniforms at school?
24. Your school has enough money to purchase either computers for students or books for
the library. Which should your school choose to buy —computers or books?
25. Many students choose to attend schools or universities outside their home countries.
Why do some students study abroad?
26. Do you think that daily homework is necessary for students?
27. Do you agree that grades (marks) encourage students to learn?
28. Do you agree that children should begin learning a foreign language as soon as they
start school?
29. Do you agree that boys and girls should attend separate schools?
30. Do you agree that schools should ask students to evaluate their teachers?
31. Do you agree that teachers should be paid according to how much their students
learn? 

Work/ Careers

32. What would you like to do once you graduate from university?
33. Is it difficult to find a job in your country?
34. Which company would you like to work for? Why?
35. Which would you choose: a high-paying job with long hours that would give you little
time with family and friends or a lower-paying job with shorter hours that would give you
more time with family and friends?
36. People work because they need money to live. What are some other reasons that
people work?
37. Do you agree that businesses should do anything they can to make a profit?
38. Some famous athletes and entertainers earn millions of dollars every year. Do you
think these people deserve such high salaries?

  

Lifestyle/ Health

39. Do you think that people have a healthier lifestyle now than they used to fifty years
ago?
40. People do many different things to stay healthy. What do you do for good health?
41. Do you think that people in your country have healthy eating habits?

Media/Entertainment
 

42. Do you use computers regularly? What for?

43. How has the Internet changed the world?
44. Which Internet sites do you visit regularly?
45. Do you use any social networking sites?
46. Do you follow celebrity coverage in the media?
47. Which celebrities would you like to meet and why?
48. Do you often buy things you see advertised on TV or in magazines?
49. Which company has the best ads/ commercials?
50. Are there any ads/ commercials that you find annoying?
51. People listen to music for different reasons and at different times. Why is music
important to many people?
52. Do you agree that reading fiction (such as novels and short stories) is more
enjoyable than watching movies?
53. How often do you read newspapers or watch the news on TV? How important is it for
you to keep up with current events?

Technology 

54. Are there any technological devices you couldn’t live without?
55. Has the development of technology in the past thirty years had any negative effects
on our health and lifestyle?

Communication

56. Do you agree that face-to-face communication is better than other types of
communication, such as using social networking sites, email, or telephone calls?
57. How have the ways we communicate with other people changed in the past twenty
or thirty years?
58. Is the ability to read and write more important today than in the past? Why or why
not?

Travel and Tourism

59.  What kind of holiday destination is your country? What can your country offer tourists?
60.  If you could recommend one place in your country for foreign visitors to see, what
would it be? Why ?

61.  Describe your perfect holiday .(e.g. Where would you go? How much money would you
spend ? What would you do for fun? etc.)

62.  How does tourism affect the environment?

Culture/Customs/ Traditions

63. Do you follow the customs and traditions of your country?

64. Can you describe a custom from your country that you would like people from other
countries to adopt?
65. When people move to another country, some of them decide to follow the customs of
the new country. Others prefer to keep their own customs.  Which one do you prefer?
66. Do you find Bosnian customs similar to Turkish? 

Crime

67. Is your country a safe country?

68. What is the most common type of crime in your country?
69. Are there any places you are afraid to visit because of the high crime rate? If so,
where?
70. Have you ever been victim of a crime? 

Relationships/ Dating/ Marriage

71. What is the best way to meet boyfriends or girlfriends?

72. How many people should you date before getting married?
73. Can you describe some wedding customs in your country?

74. Some people think that marriage is outdated (too old-fashioned). Do you agree?
 

Global Issues

75. Are you worried about global warming?

76. Is there anything we could do to stop climate change?
77. What do you do to protect the environment?
78. In your opinion, which are the biggest problems our planet is facing?  

79. The 21st century has begun. What changes do you think this new century will bring? 

Various topics 

80. You have enough money to purchase either a house or a business. Which would you
choose to buy?
81. Do you agree that the decisions that people make quickly are always wrong?
82. Do you agree that there is nothing that young people can teach older people?

82. Imagine that you have received some land to use as you wish. How would you use
this land?
83. It is sometimes said that borrowing money from a friend can harm or damage the
friendship. Do you agree? Why or why not?

85. Every generation of people is different in some ways. How is your generation
different from your parents’ generation?