Conversation Topics / Arts
Arts Conversation Questions for Adult ESL Classes
Use these 20 discussion questions about Arts to run a full speaking lesson with adult learners (B1–B2). Each part opens with a vocabulary warm-up, every question is labelled with the thinking skill it practises, and each part fills roughly thirty minutes of class time on its own.
Reviewed by Brando Oxley · 11 Aug 2026
Part 1
Experiencing and Creating Art
Focus: sharing experiences, describing creative work, comparing forms of art, explaining preferences, and evaluating artistic choices
Think of one object used to create art, one verb connected to making or performing art, and one place where people experience art.
Describe each word without saying it directly. Your teacher or partner must guess the word.
EXPERIENCE
What kinds of art have you enjoyed doing most in your life, and what first attracted you to them?
DESCRIBE
Describe a painting, performance, song, sculpture, or other artwork that you remember clearly.
PREFERENCE
Which form of art do you most enjoy experiencing: music, painting, film, theater, dance, photography, or something else? Explain why.
COMPARE
Compare seeing art in person with experiencing it through a screen or recording. What changes about the experience?
EXPLAIN
Why can two people look at or listen to the same artwork and have completely different reactions?
CREATE
If you had time to learn one creative skill, what would you choose and what would you like to make?
EVALUATE
What makes a piece of art memorable: technical skill, originality, emotion, beauty, meaning, or something else?
PROBLEM-SOLVE
Someone wants to become more creative but believes they have no artistic talent. What could they do to begin?
REFLECT
How can creating art affect a person's confidence, emotions, or way of thinking?
JUSTIFY
Does art need to be beautiful to be valuable? Explain your position and give an example.
Part 2
Art, Culture, and Public Life
Focus: analyzing cultural influence, discussing public support, comparing viewpoints, evaluating controversy, and imagining the future of art
Choose one word from each category: Person: artist, musician, visitor, student; Action: paint, perform, create, observe; Place: gallery, theater, street, studio; Feeling: inspired, confused, impressed, curious. Use your four words to describe a short scene in two or three sentences.
CULTURE
What kinds of art are strongly connected to the culture or history of your country?
COMPARE
How is traditional art different from modern or experimental art in the way people experience it?
DISCUSS
What role should art play in schools, and what might students gain from studying creative subjects?
INFLUENCE
How can films, music, paintings, or other art forms influence the way people think about society?
EVALUATE
Should governments spend public money on museums, theaters, festivals, and public art? Explain what seems reasonable to you.
BALANCE
How should artists balance expressing themselves freely with considering how their work may affect other people?
PROBLEM-SOLVE
A local art museum is losing visitors, especially younger people. What could it do to become more interesting and accessible?
ANALYZE
Why does controversial art sometimes receive more attention than work that most people immediately enjoy?
PREDICT
How might technology and artificial intelligence change the way art is created and valued in the future?
REFLECT
What would society lose if people stopped creating music, stories, visual art, performances, and other forms of artistic expression?