Casa ESL · conversation questions

28 ESL Conversation Questions About Movies & TV

Screens are the shared culture of the century — every student has favourites, hatreds, and hot takes ready to translate into English.

Warm-up questions A1–A2 · beginner

  1. What was the last film you watched?
  2. Do you prefer films at home or in the cinema?
  3. What is your favourite film of all time?
  4. Do you watch films in English?
  5. Who is your favourite actor?
  6. Do you like scary movies?
  7. What series are you watching now?
  8. Popcorn: sweet or salty?
  9. Do you watch films twice?
  10. Cartoons: yes or no?

Discussion questions B1–B2 · intermediate

  1. Pitch your favourite film to someone who refuses to watch it.
  2. Do subtitles or dubbing change a film? Which do you choose?
  3. What film did everyone love but you? Make your case.
  4. Which book adaptation worked — and which was a crime?
  5. What does your country's cinema do better than Hollywood?
  6. Describe a scene that stayed with you for years.
  7. Are film stars paid too much, or exactly what the market says?
  8. What ended sooner than it should have — and what dragged on?
  9. Who deserves a biopic that doesn't have one?
  10. Do trailers ruin films now?

Debate & depth C1–C2 · advanced

  1. Is binge-watching changing how stories are written? For better?
  2. Should AI-generated actors be allowed to "star" in films?
  3. Do violent films cause violence, reflect it, or neither?
  4. Is the superhero era the death of cinema or its rebirth?
  5. Streaming killed the video store and maybe the cinema — what did we lose culturally?
  6. Can a film be great if its maker was terrible? Where is your line?
  7. Why do we cry at fiction we know is false? What is happening in us?
  8. If your life were a film, what genre — and who is miscast?

Teaching tips

  • Show a 30-second clip, have students narrate what happened in past tense.
  • Genre vocabulary sorting game: thriller, romance, documentary, drama, animation.
  • Vocabulary seeds: plot, character, sequel, soundtrack, spoiler, cast, review.

Practise these with a real teacher.

One-on-one conversation lessons, A1 to C2 — friendly, structured, and personal.

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