ESL Discussion Questions about Dancing

What is it?

Do you like it? Why not? Do you like to watch it?

Are you a good dancer? Do you want to show me?

Where do you dance?

What kind of dancing do you like to do? Fast dancing? Slow dancing? Group dancing? Belly dancing? Tap dancing? Dancing with a partner? (who do you want to dance with? Have you ever asked a stranger to dance? It is okay for boys to dance together? Girls? Dancing by yourself?)

What kind or style of dancing is popular now?

Where do you dance? Where can you go dancing?

The dancing in public areas – why is it so popular? Who is it popular with?

When do you dance? Do you dance to celebrate? Is the spring festival a time for dancing?

What about the dancing I see workers have to do?

Is dancing difficult? Why? Why not?

Is it hard to dance because people are shy to dance? Are you shy to dance?

Do they teach dancing in Chinese schools? Are there dancing schools or clubs in Wuxi?

Is dancing a good profession? Have you ever danced in a show?

Where can you watch people dance?

What kind of dancing do you like to watch? Ballet? Go-go dancing? Exotic dancing? Belly dancing?

Where do you like to watch dancing? Clubs? Theatres? On movies and in films?

Do you like to watch musicals? Do the Chinese make musicals? Why? Why not? Why don't they make musical movies in Hollywood anymore? Do you like Bollywood musicals?

Who do you like to dance with?

Who are some famous dancers?

Who are some famous Chinese dancers?

Why is Gangnam Style so popular?

Is Western dancing different from Chinese dancing? How?

What kind of music is good for dancing?

Dancing idioms and expressions

Out of step

Cut the rug

Would you care to dance?

Dance on air

Dance with death

The same old song and dance

I am putting on my dance shoes

Dance up a storm

ESL Discussion Questions about Complaining (Revised)

What is it?

What is the noun that is made with complain?

So, we can make complaints.

Do you do it?

Do you take joy in complaining?

What is your biggest complaint in life?

What is your biggest complaint about today?

What is your biggest complaint about food, restaurants, school, men, women, parents, taking the bus, driving, marriage, babies, the Internet, Wuxi, Shanghai et cetra?

What do famous people complain about?

What do woman complain about?

When people get together to chat, do they spend most of the conversation time complaining about things?

Make a list of your top ten complaints.

Do animals complain?

What do animals complain about?

What would chairs, tables, floors, w.c.'s, and trash cans complaining about?

What do you call a person who complains too much? (A Whiner. Do you know anyone who is a whiner? Do you know someone who complains about everything? Ask the students if any of them can imitate such a person.)

Do you deal with customer complaints? How to deal with customer complaints?

Have you ever complained to a big company? Did you get satisfaction?

How to complain? When you complain you should be ______________.

Does it help to complain angrily? Does it help to complain politely?

Would having a weapon help?

Who has the most to complain about?

Expressions using complain.

How are you? I can't complain.

There's no point in complaining.

A Week in the Life of a Wuxi English Teacher: January 14 to January 20, 2013

I have published my weekly blog entry.  You can read it here.

ESL Discussion Questions about Books

Do you love books? Why? Do you hate books? How come?

Would you rather have a book or a car? A book or a diamond ring? A book or a television? A book or a basketball? A book or a Rolex watch? A paperback or a hardback?

Are you a bookish person?

Are you often reading a book? Do you try to always carry a book with you? Do you read a book to show off? Do you read books to get people to think you are interesting? Have you ever seen someone reading a book you like and so thought you would like to talk to them?

How many books do you have?

Have you read all the books you have?

You have more hard covers or paper backs? Do you prefer to have expensive editions of books?

Have you heard that the first edition of a famous book can be worth a lot of money? Why is this?

Do you collect certain kinds or series of books?

Do you keep books after you have read them or do you get rid of them? What books do you get rid of? Which ones do you keep?

Do you have any big picture books?

When you read a book, do you try to keep it in new condition or do you wear it out? Do you like to write in books, underline important passages, or make notes?

Are books dangerous things? Do you think it is a good idea to destroy dangerous books?

Do you have books that you hide from the view of others?

What do you use as a bookmark?

Do you think a shelf full of books is a good way to decorate your house?

Do you wish you had your own private library?

If I go to someone's home, I find I am most interested in the books they own. What about you?

What is your favourite book? That is, what is your favourite book that you have held in your hand or owned?

What is the one book you would always carry with you?

Have you had one book for a long time?

You can take only one book you now have to a desert island, which book would you take and why?

Do you like to go to book stores?

Do you like to go to second-hand book stores? Are there many such stores in Wuxi?

Some people say they would love in work in book stores or libraries. What about you?

Do you think owning a book store is a good idea these days?

What do you think of e-books? Have you read an e-book?

Do you have an e-book reader? Would you buy one?

Do you think e-books will replace paper books?

What are the advantages of e-books?

Where do you read your e-books?

How many e-books do you have? Have you bought an e-book?

Do you prefer to read your favourite piece of literature in book form or e-book form.

Expressions and idioms using the word "book"

• You can read him like a open book.

• So many books, so little time.

• You can't judge a book by its cover. (Have you bought or picked up a book because of its cover?)

• coffee table book

• open book / closed book

• have nose in a book

• not in my book

• by the book

• the oldest trick in the book

• throw the book at

• that's one for the books

• hit the books

• cook the books

A Blog Entry of a Teacher's Life in Wuxi, China for the Week of January 7 to January 13, 2013

Read it here!

ESL Discussion Questions about Baldness

What does bald mean? An absence or a lack of hair.

What does the word baldness mean? A state of being bald.

What does balding mean? The process of becoming bald or losing hair.

Is baldness a bad thing? Why? Why not?

Women! What do you think of bald men?

Men! What do you think of bald men? Are you afraid of going bald?

Men! Are you going bald? Do you have a receding hairline?

When can baldness be attractive? When can it be unattractive?

What are some patterns of baldness? Which are attractive? Which are not?

What do you think of people with long hair and a bald spot?

What are some causes of baldness?

Are the following causes of baldness? Your mother's father was bald (i.e. You inherited from you family. Does baldness run in your family?); weight training and exercise; intellectual activity (are bald people smarter. Pointy-head intellectual) psychological problems; emotional stress; tight hats

What can we do about baldness?

Comb-overs, eat special food, rub potions in our bald spots, wear wigs, wear toupees, wear hats, shave our head, grow our hair really long, nothing

What are some advantages of being bald?

Are bald man smarter? More virile?

Do/did you have balding classmates or colleagues? How did/do you treat them?

Do you have nicknames for balding people?

Is your partner bald? What will you do if you partner is going bald? Tell him to wear a hat? Get a divorce?

What did the ancient Chinese think about balding and bald people? What do the modern Chinese think?

Who are some famous bald people? Gandhi and Chang Kai Shek.

What do the following expressions mean?

Bald as a baby's bum.

Bald as a cue ball.

He is completely bald.

That was a bald-faced lie!

Balding is a sign of ageing? What are some others? Wrinkles, grey hair, sagging skin, and deteriorating eyesight, sore bones, all sorts of body aches

The AKIC Blog Entry for the Week of December 31, 2012 to January 6, 2013

Read it here!

ESL Discussion Questions about Anger

 What is it? Synonyms? Rage. Ire. Indignation. Displease, vex, irritate, exasperate, infuriate, enrage, incense, madden. Antonyms? Happiness, Calm.

Adjective formed with anger? Angry. Can adjective be used as a verb. Lying angers me.

Is it a good thing?

What does anger look like?

What expressions do we make with our faces when we feel angry?

What gestures do we make when we feel angry?

It is okay to be angry? Is it okay to show your anger? Does it help to get angry? Is anger good for our health?

Should you complain when you are angry?

Does being angry help solve your problem or complaints?

Is there good anger & bad anger?

What is a good way to express your anger?

Do you get angry? How do you act? What makes you angry? Do you burst into anger?

Who do you get angry at? Neighbours? Your relatives? Your boss? Other drivers? Store clerks? Co-workers? Politicians? Teachers?

Can you control your anger? How do you feel after you have an angry outburst?

They say he is an angry person. What do they mean? Does that mean he has a bad temper?

Do you know any angry people?

Do you know people with bad tempers? Do you avoid these people?

Do you have a bad temper? Do people with bad tempers know they have bad tempers?

Better to be angry in private than to be angry in public?

Is it okay for managers and parents and teachers to be angry? Is anger a good way to get people to do what you want them to do?

Do some countries have more angry people than others? Professions?

Are we intimidated by angry people? How should we behave when someone is angry at us? What should we do if a friend or relative is angry at someone else?

Who worries you more? The people who is always angry? The person who is always quiet? Who is more likely to take a gun and go on a killing spree?

If we feel angry, what should we do? Go for a gun? Throw things? Make a fist? Take a deep breath? Walk away from the situation? Scream? Swear?

What is the most angry you have ever been?

At what age in life, are people the most angry? When they are young? Teenaged? New Adults? Middle-aged? Over-the-hill? About-to-die?

Do you get angry in traffic? When getting on the bus? When having to wait a long time at a restaurant? When someone is making too much noise?

In what places and situations are people most prone to anger? Where have you seen the most displays of anger?

If you see an angry customer in a restaurant or a shop, whose side do you take? The customer's or the service person or the management's?

Do we envy or admire people who express the anger that we are sometimes too shy to express?

Are these anger-management courses in China? Can such things teach people to control their anger?

Is anger the flip side of happiness? That is, the times we are very angry are equal to the times we feel very happy?