ESL discussion topics
Ready-to-run discussion and debate lessons for English classes in Korea, each with a printable student handout and teacher notes. Free, no sign-up.
43 articles
- High school
Weekend Chores at Home: Should Kids Get Paid for Helping Out?
A ready-to-run B1 discussion lesson on whether chores deserve an allowance. Students weigh paid versus unpaid housework, learn key vocabulary, and argue both sides using sentence frames built for high schoolers.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Weekend Gaming Time: Should Kids Play Games on School Nights?
A ready-to-run elementary discussion lesson on gaming on school nights, weighing the friendship side against homework and sleep, with a word bank and sentence frames built for A1 to A2 speakers.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Sleep and bedtime rules: should kids have a phone-free bedroom at night?
A ready-to-run elementary discussion lesson on phones at bedtime, with word bank, sentence frames, and a balanced pros-and-cons list kids this age can actually use in class.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Do kids need a "no-sugar day" at home? A discussion lesson on family snack rules
This ready-to-run lesson gives middle schoolers both sides of a family rule that limits sweets one day a week, with vocabulary, opinion frames, and a classroom debate for A2 to B1 learners.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Sleepovers and friend birthday parties: should kids go to sleepovers in middle school?
Sleepovers split middle schoolers right down the middle: some love the freedom and friend time, others worry about missing sleep, safety, or breaking family rules. This lesson gives both sides a fair hearing.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Pocket money and snack shops near school: should kids spend their own allowance on sweets?
Every hagwon has a snack shop next door, and every class has an opinion on allowance. This lesson gets high schoolers debating whether kids should manage their own spending money or let parents handle it.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Playground Rules at Recess: Who Gets the Ball?
A fair-sharing discussion lesson for upper elementary classes, where students compare first-come rules, turn-taking, and sharing to solve recess conflicts over the one playground ball everyone wants.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Weekend sports: a discussion lesson on rest days vs training
This lesson gives upper elementary students both sides of weekend sports: a free Sunday to rest and play, or team practice that builds stronger skills and friendships. It comes with word banks and sentence frames so even A1 speakers can join in.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Lunch box trends and peer pressure: an elementary discussion lesson
Should kids bring trendy snacks to school, or does it leave other students feeling left out? A ready discussion lesson for middle schoolers, with a word bank and opinion frames built in.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Korea debates a 3pm school day, and your elementary class has opinions
South Korea is debating whether first and second graders should stay at school until 3pm instead of 1pm, and that same question makes a ready-made discussion for any elementary class this week.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Elementary
Your elementary class already argues about kids' watches vs phones
Many Korean elementary students now wear a kids' smartwatch instead of carrying a phone, and this ready-to-run lesson gets them arguing about which one is better in simple, short English sentences.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Where should Yeomyung School go? A discussion lesson on community consent
Residents in Seoul's Gangseo District have spent weeks protesting a permanent campus for Yeomyung School, which educates North Korean defector teenagers, and the argument over land, broken promises, and who gets a say gives your class a real, unresolved question to discuss respectfully.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Should foreign workers in Korea get a lower minimum wage? A debate lesson
No. Korean law sets one minimum wage for every worker regardless of nationality, but a 2024 Seoul pilot bringing in Filipino caregivers reopened the argument, and your high schoolers already have an opinion on it.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
The one-term presidency debate in a Korean high school classroom
Here is a 45-minute high school discussion lesson on Korea's single five-year presidential term, the proposal to allow re-election instead, and the vocabulary and debate structure you need to run it cold in one class period.
- High school
Korea's generation-ban cigarette law splits the classroom
South Korea has floated, more than once, a law banning anyone born after a set year from ever legally buying cigarettes, even as adults, copying a policy New Zealand passed and then scrapped. Here's a 45-minute high school discussion lesson built around it.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Adult
Korean offices are calling workers back, and your adult class already picked a side
Since 2023, major Korean employers including Samsung and SK hynix have scaled back or ended pandemic-era remote work, ordering staff back to the office full time, and most working adults in your class have an opinion on whether that was the right call.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Adult
Korea's push to raise the retirement age to 65 divides the room
Korea is debating whether to raise the legal retirement age from 60 to 65 to match the rising national pension age, and the split between younger and older workers gives an adult class a debate they can argue from their own paycheck.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Adult
Banning after-hours work messages: a debate your adult class already lives
South Korea's National Assembly has proposed a "right to disconnect" law banning bosses from texting staff after hours several times since 2016, most recently in 2023. None of the versions has passed yet, which is exactly why it's worth debating.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Cosmetic surgery as a graduation gift: a discussion lesson on beauty standards
Getting double-eyelid or nose surgery as a high school graduation present is common enough in Korea that many students have heard of it, and they genuinely disagree about whether that's fine.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Adult
Korea's four-day workweek pilots: a debate your adult class is already living
A handful of Korean companies, including Woowa Brothers and Kakao Games, have trialed four-day or 4.5-day workweeks since around 2019, and adult students bring real workplace stakes to the debate over whether it should spread nationwide.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Korea cut high school grades from nine levels to five: a discussion lesson
Starting with students who entered high school in March 2025, Korea's internal grading system (내신, naesin) moved from nine relative tiers to five, easing some of the ranking pressure but reopening arguments about fairness, effort, and whether it actually changes anything for college admissions.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Korea's minimum wage crossed 10,000 won: a discussion lesson for high schoolers
Korea's minimum wage passed 10,000 won for the first time in 2025 and has climbed twice since. Here's what the real numbers are now, and how to use them in a debate class instead of a hypothetical one.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Korea's doctor strike: a high school debate students already have at home
In February 2024 the Korean government announced a plan to add roughly 2,000 medical school seats, and thousands of trainee doctors walked out in protest. This lesson turns that real standoff into a structured high school discussion.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Lowering Korea's juvenile crime age: a high school discussion lesson
Korea currently shields kids under 14 (called *chokbeopsonyeon*) from criminal punishment, and lawmakers have repeatedly proposed lowering that age to 13. Middle schoolers argue about it because the law is about people their own age.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Korea pays couples to have babies, and your high schoolers have strong opinions
South Korea's fertility rate rose slightly to 0.75 in 2024 after years of decline, and governments now hand out cash grants, monthly allowances, and paid leave to try to reverse it. Here's how to teach the debate.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Korea's dog meat ban: a discussion lesson high schoolers have opinions on
This lesson uses South Korea's law banning dog meat farming and sale, passed in January 2024 with a grace period running until February 2027, to run a balanced pro/con debate for high school students who've already heard the argument at home.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Korea scrapped "killer questions" from the Suneung, and your students are split
In 2023, Korea's education ministry ordered the CSAT (Suneung) to drop ultra-hard "killer questions," aiming to cut reliance on private tutoring. High schoolers disagree on whether it worked, made the test fairer, or just moved the difficulty elsewhere.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Korea's teacher protection law gives your high schoolers plenty to argue about
In 2023, a teacher's death in Seoul led to new laws expanding teachers' authority to discipline students and protecting them from malicious parent complaints, and Korean high schoolers have strong, split opinions on whether the changes went far enough or too far.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
AI digital textbooks just got demoted in Korea, and your high schoolers have opinions
In 2025 Korea rolled out AI digital textbooks in schools, then the National Assembly stripped them of official status months later. This 45-minute lesson lets high schoolers debate whether the technology helped them learn or just added another screen to class.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
No-kids zones are everywhere in Korea, and your middle schoolers have opinions
No-kids zones (노키즈존, no-kijeu-jon) are cafes, restaurants, and other businesses in Korea that legally ban children under a certain age, and middle schoolers can debate them fluently because most have been turned away from one themselves.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Replacing teachers with AI tutors: a high school discussion lesson
A 45-minute debate on AI replacing human English teachers, built for advanced high school classes in Korea where students are already using Ringle, Elsa Speak, and ChatGPT for homework. Includes argument cards, a voting structure, and follow-up questions.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Screen time limits for teens: a discussion lesson high schoolers argue about
A 45-minute debate lesson on government-enforced phone curfews for under-16s, built on South Korea's real Shutdown Law history and current European proposals. Includes warm-up, balanced argument cards, and a vote students care about.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Lowering the voting age to 16: a high school discussion lesson
A 50-minute ready-to-run debate lesson on voting at 16, built for Korean high school students who know they'll face military service before they can vote. Includes debate structure, argument prompts, and a printable handout.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
After-school academies and workload: a middle school discussion lesson
A ready-to-run 45-minute debate on private academies and student workload, built for intermediate middle school students in Korea who already attend hagwons and have thoughtful opinions about how to balance study and rest.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Pets in the classroom: a middle school discussion lesson on animals at school
A 45-minute debate lesson built on Korea's recent push to bring therapy animals and class pets into elementary and middle schools. Students argue real trade-offs: allergies, cleanup, learning responsibility, and whether a rabbit actually makes anyone study harder.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Junk food bans at school: a middle school discussion lesson
A 45-minute debate plan on processed food in school cafeterias and vending machines, built for B1–B2 students who see it every day and will argue both sides hard.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Military budgets vs public services: a high school discussion lesson
A discussion lesson built on Korea's real 2026 budget: a defense line finalized near 65.9 trillion won, a welfare bill four times that size, and a service-length debate your students are already having at home.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Mandatory military service at 18: a discussion lesson that lands differently in Korea
A 45-minute debate on lowering the conscription age to 18, designed for Korean high school boys who will serve and girls who won't, and the four discussion tasks that keep it from going silent.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Can 14-year-olds work part-time? A middle school discussion lesson
South Korea's rules on teen part-time work spark debate about independence versus childhood. This forty-minute lesson gives your middle school class structured talking practice around a question that touches their lives directly.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
Universal basic income: a ready-to-run lesson for advanced high school classes
A complete 45-minute debate lesson on whether governments should pay every citizen a monthly stipend, with argument cards, vocabulary support, and extensions. Built for high school students who can hold a position and respond to counterarguments.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
AI in the classroom: a 45-minute debate lesson
A ready-to-run debate on whether students should be allowed to use AI writing tools for homework. Students take a side, argue it, then have to argue the opposite, which is where the real language work happens.
Student sheet + teacher notes - High school
The four-day school week: a discussion lesson high schoolers care about
Spain and Scotland are trialling shorter school weeks. This lesson gives Korean high school students vocabulary, structured debate roles, and a decision-making task built on a question that affects their lives.
Student sheet + teacher notes - Middle school
Should schools ban smartphones? A ready-to-run debate lesson
A 45-minute debate lesson for middle school students on banning phones in school, with a student handout, sentence frames and teacher notes. Students take a side, defend it, then argue the opposite.
Student sheet + teacher notes