Speech/Writing Topics:

  • Should women with small children have jobs outside the home? Why or why not?
  • What I like best about living in Buffalo
  • Should an unmarried person be allowed to adopt a child? Why or why not?
  • My favorite time of the year and why
  • Should capital punishment be allowed for murderers? Why or why not?
  • What should the legal drinking age be?
  • Do you believe in ghosts or spirits?
  • Do you believe in aliens/extraterrestrial life forms?
  • Can people from different cultures/countries have a good marriage or be allowed to get married?
  • Is it important to speak more than one language? Which is the most important language?
  • How much television should children be allowed to watch?
  • Do you think violence and sex should be eliminated from movies?
  • Should all education be free? Why or why not?
  • Should everybody who is smart enough get a college degree? Why or why not?
  • Should all healthcare and medicine be free? Why or why not?
  • When getting admitted into college, which should be more important: grades or test scores (e.g. TOEFL scores)?
  • Can people from different races have a good marriage / be allowed to get married?
  • How you do feel about sex education in schools? Should it be given at the elementary school level, junior high school, high school, or never?
  • Do you think that men should take a more active role in household responsibilities (e.g. cooking, taking care of children, cleaning, etc.)?
  • If you had to choose one type of person to marry, who would you marry?

Type 1: An ugly and poor person who is also kind

Type 2: A mean person who is good looking and rich

  • What drugs should be legalized, if any? Why?
  • One of my favorite relatives and why
  • If I didn’t have to worry about money but still needed a job, which job would I pick?
  • Should governments provide welfare (financial assistance) to people who do not work?
  • What should we do to prevent global warming?
  • Is there anything that men are better at than women and visa versa, or are men and women equal in every way?
  • Are there times that technology makes life harder or does it only make life easier?
  • Which government model is better, capitalism or communism, or neither? Why?
  • Should people with learning and physical disabilities be allowed to attend regular schools?
  • Should immigrant children (people who move to other countries to live) be taught in their first language, or just be taught only in the language of that country?
  • Which it better: to live with your parents until you get married or move out as soon as financially possible?
  • If you’re in a foreign country, it is better to spend most of your time with people from your country, or with the natives?
  • How I feel about living with a boyfriend/girlfriend/partner without being married.
  • How I feel about using credit cards.
  • Should children be responsible for paying their college tuition or someone else (parents, the government?
  • Which is more important, to love your job, or to have a high salary?
  • The happiest moment of my life
  • Can you be happy without money? Why or why not?
  • Which would you prefer if you couldn’t have both: to be ugly and smart, or beautiful and dumb?
  • Some advantages of being older
  • Which animals make the best pets?
  • Should pets be allowed in the house? Why or why not?
  • Why I like to travel (or not)
  • The best teacher I’ve ever had and why
  • Do you think there should be laws against smoking in public places?
  • A custom in my country that is different from customs in other countries
  • The qualities I look for in a friend
  • The qualities I would look for in a boss
  • My favorite holiday and why
  • The best place I have ever visited and why
  • What I think about marriage
  • What should the legal driving age be? Why?
  • Is it better to live at home with your parents while in college, or in a dorm with roommates?
  • Is it better to go away to college, or to stay close to home?
  • Should there be only one language in the world? Why or why not?
  • Should people who are terminally ill be allowed to end their own lives?
  • Why I chose America over another English-speaking country (if you chose it)
  • If you were on a stranded island and could only take one person, who would you take?
  • How I feel about corporal punishment (inflicting pain on a child or person to change behavior or punish)
  • My favorite musician/singer/band and why
  • If you cannot see things, does that mean they aren’t there? Why or why not?
  • 1) Ways in which English is harder than other languages. 2) Ways in which English is easier.
  • If you could choose a language to dominate the world besides English, what would it be?
  • If you could choose to have been born in any country in the world, where would it be? Why?
  • If you could choose to have been born in any time in history, when would it be? Why?
  • If you could choose to speak any language besides English, what would it be? Why?
  • Qualities I look for in a significant other (boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife, etc.)
  • If you could choose to live in any country in the world for one year (besides the U.S.A.), which would it be? Why?
  • How I feel about cosmetic surgery
  • What is the beauty ideal in your country (male or female)? How is it different from the American ideal?
  • Do you agree with the old adage “Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder” (meaning: Beauty is only the opinion of the person who is looking”)
  • Is it OK to eat animals that are also pets (e.g. dogs)? Why or why not?
  • Should single mothers be paid the same as men who can stay much longer at work?