Engaging Topics to Talk About in Spanish Class with Your Students

Traditional Spanish conversation practice often involves generic topics that bore students, but we can do better. With the right topics in hand, we have the power to keep students engaged and motivated.

Keep reading for 12 topics to talk about in Spanish class that are actually relevant to your students’ lives and interests, along with questions to guide the conversation. These can serve as conversation prompts for pairs or small groups.

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1. Traveling 

As students’ travel possibilities grow in line with their Spanish skills, being able to verbalize where they would like to travel, work or study is essential. To start a conversation about traveling, you can ask your students this question, or have them ask a partner:

¿A dónde quisieras viajar y por qué?
(Where would you like to travel and why?)

You can have your students do a bit of research about where they’d like to visit and then have them talk about these more specific travel topics:

El transporte (Transportation)

¿La gente usa Uber o Lyft allí o prefiere el transporte público en medida de lo posible? ¿Por qué?
(Do people use Uber or Lyft there, or do they prefer public transport whenever possible? Why?)

Los precios (Pricing)

¿La vida es cara por allí? Por lo general, ¿cuánto necesitas ganar para vivir allí? 
(Is life expensive around there? In general, how much do you need to make to live there?)

El hospedaje (Lodging) 

¿Qué área de la ciudad recomiendas para quedarse? ¿Por qué?
(Which area in the city do you recommend to stay the night? Why?)

¿La gente suele usar Airbnb allí? ¿En cuáles partes de la ciudad?
(Do people tend to use Airbnb there? In what parts of the city?)

2. The Weather

The weather is probably the safest, most common topic of conversation and small talk with strangers and acquaintances alike. Here are some questions that can get your students talking about the weather and seasons:  

¿Cómo está el clima hoy?
(How’s the weather today?)

¿Cuál es tu estación favorita y por qué?
(What’s your favorite season and why?)

¿Qué harías si las estaciones nunca cambiaran y todos los días fueran verano?
(What would you do if the seasons never changed and every day was summer?)

¿Suele llover aquí? ¿Debería llevar paraguas a todas partes por si acaso?
(Is it often rainy here? Should I take an umbrella everywhere, just in case?)

¿Qué debería usar al salir?
(How should I dress for a day out?)

3. Food and Restaurants 

Food and restaurants are topics that are easy to talk about and can spark some passionate conversations. You could make this lesson even more enjoyable by asking students to bring in their favorite foods or snacks to share or by making a popular food from a Spanish-speaking country together. 

¿Qué te gusta comer? 
(What do you like to eat?)

¿Cuáles son tus platos favoritos? ¿Y tus refrigerios favoritos?
(What are your favorite dishes? What about your favorite snacks?

¿Tiendes a tener antojos? ¿Qué se te antoja ahora?
(Do you tend to get cravings? What are you in the mood for now?)

¿Sabes cómo cocinar? Si es así, ¿cómo aprendiste?
(Do you know how to cook? If so, how did you learn?)

¿Qué te gusta cocinar y por qué?
(What do you like to cook and why?)

¿Cuáles son tus restaurantes favoritos y por qué?
(What are your favorite restaurants and why?)

4. Apps and Social Media

Most adolescents (and adults) are active on social media and spend a lot of time on their phones and other devices, so why not talk about it in Spanish class?  Here are some questions you can ask to get the conversation started: 

¿Cuáles son tus redes sociales favoritas? ¿Por qué?
(What are your favorite social networks? Why?)

¿Cuáles son tus apps favoritas además de las redes sociales?
(What are you favorite apps besides social media?)

¿Usas Siri? Si lo usas, ¿para qué y cuándo?
(Do you use Siri? If so, for what and when?)

¿Prefieres Instagram o Facebook? ¿Por qué?
(Do you prefer Instagram or Facebook? Why?)

¿Utilizas TikTok? ¿Cuáles son las ventajas y desventajas de TikTok?
(Do you use TikTok? What are the advantages and disadvantages of TikTok?)

¿Qué tiendes a publicar en tus perfiles de redes sociales?
(What do you tend to publish on your social media profiles?)

5. TV and Movies 

Most people tend to love talking about what series they’re watching or the last movie they saw. Being able to talk about these topics will help your students connect with others and enjoy entertainment together. You could pair this conversation with one of these great movies for teaching Spanish.

¿Cuál es tu serie o pelicula favorita?
(What’s your favorite series or movie?)

¿Qué géneros te gusta ver?
(Which genres do you like to watch?)

¿Cuál es tu actor o actriz favorito/a y por qué?
(Who’s your favorite actor/actress and why?)

¿Qué actor o actriz podría interpretarte en una película sobre tu vida?
(Which actor or actress could play you in a movie about your life?)

¿Te gustan las telenovelas? ¿Por qué sí o por qué no?
(Do you like soap operas in Spanish? Why or why not?)

¿Qué serie o película has visto recientemente? ¿Te gustó?
(What series or movie have you seen recently? Did you like it?)

6. Music

Music is universally loved and easy to talk about. You could make a fun musical lesson by teaching your students a Spanish song and pairing it with a conversation guided by these questions: 

¿Qué tipo de música te gusta más?
(What’s your favorite kind of music?)

¿Prefieres Apple Music, Pandora o Spotify y por qué?
(Do you prefer Apple music, Pandora or Spotify, and why?)

¿Cuáles son tus canciones favoritas y por qué?
(What are your favorite songs and why?)

¿Cuál música no te gusta y por qué?
(What music don’t you like and why?)

¿Quien es tu artista, cantante, banda o músico favorito/a y por qué?
(Who’s your favorite artist, singer, band or musician and why?)

¿Has ido a algún buen concierto?
(Have you gone to any good concerts?)

7. Hobbies and Interests

To build meaningful relationships in Spanish, students must practice expressing themselves and describing their personal interests and hobbies. Here are some pertinent conversation prompts:

¿Cuáles son tus principales intereses personales? 
(What are your main personal interests?)

¿Qué haces los fines de semana?
(What do you do on weekends?)

¿Cuál es tu actividad favorita y por qué?
(What is your favorite activity and why?)

¿Qué es lo que más te relaja y por qué?
(What is it that most relaxes you and why?)

8. Career and Studies 

If you’re teaching in a school or university, these questions will be relevant and easy to talk about. If you’re teaching older adults, you can turn these into past-tense questions about their studies and present-tense questions about their current jobs. 

¿Cuál es tu carrera?
(What’s your major?)

¿Cuál es tu clase favorita y por qué?
(What is your favorite class and why?)

¿Qué tenemos de tarea hoy? ¿Es fácil o difícil? ¿Por qué?
(What do we have for homework today? Is it easy or hard? Why?)

¿Cuáles son tus metas profesionales?
(What are your professional goals?)

¿Qué profesor(a) te agrada más y por qué?
(Which professor do you like the most and why?)

9. Current Events

As many students learn Spanish to expand their travel options, it’s particularly useful for them to be able to talk about what’s going on in other parts of the world. More advanced students should learn to have dialogues about current events and formulate their own opinions on local and global issues.

¿Qué salió hoy o en esta semana en las noticias?
(What happened today or this week in the news?)

¿Qué piensas de lo que pasó en las noticias?
(What do you think about what happened in the news?)

¿Qué fuentes de noticias utilizas y por qué?
(What news sources do you use and why?)

¿Cómo influye actualmente la política en el país?
(How do politics currently influence the country?)

¿Cuáles crees que son los mayores problemas que enfrenta el país o el mundo?
(What do you think are the biggest issues facing the country or world?)

10. Religion

Religion and religious beliefs can be sensitive topics, so it’s vital to establish mutual trust and respect before diving into this conversation. As long as they seem comfortable with it, it’s a good topic for older high school and university students and adults.

¿Cuál es tu religión? ¿Vas a la iglesia regularmente? 
(What’s your religion? Do you attend church regularly?)

¿Tienes creencias religiosas? Si tienes, ¿cuáles son?
(Do you have religious beliefs? If so, what are they?)

¿La religión te ayuda a ser más fuerte y a superar los momentos difíciles?
(Does religion help you be stronger and overcome difficult times?)

¿En tu niñez fuiste criado con alguna religión? ¿Cómo fue?
(Were you raised with any religion in your childhood? What was it like?)

¿En qué se diferencian sus creencias y prácticas religiosas de las de sus padres?
(How are your religious beliefs and practices different from your parents’?)

11. Family and Relationships

Students should be able to converse about their friendships and important relationships. They’ll likely enjoy getting the chance to talk about the people they spend time with the most. Here are some prompts:

¿Quiénes son tus mejores amigos? ¿Tienes pareja? 
(Who are your best friends? Are you in a relationship?)

¿Cómo son tus amigos?
(What are your friends like?)

¿Qué te gusta hacer con tus amigos?
(What do you like to do with your friends?)

Cuando se reúnen, ¿suelen llegar a tiempo? ¿Quién no llega a tiempo? ¿Por qué?
(When you and your friends meet, does everyone usually arrive on time? Who doesn’t arrive on time? Why?)

Students should also be able to converse about their own families and ask about others’ families. This is a good opportunity to practice vocabulary related to family members. Among pertinent prompts are:

¿Cómo es tu familia?
(What’s your family like?)

¿Tu hermana/o está casado/a? Si sí, ¿cómo es tu cuñado/a?
(Is your sibling married? If yes, what is your brother or sister-in-law like?)

¿Qué es lo que más te gusta de tu familia?
(What do you like most about your family?)

¿Con quién más te llevas en tu familia y por qué?
(Who do you get along with best in your family and why?)

12. Home Life

Where we live and who we live with are central to our lives. Students should be able to talk about their homes and neighborhoods, especially when meeting foreign Spanish speakers so they can get to know each other better. Here are a few prompts to guide this dialogue:

¿Cómo es tu casa y tu barrio?
(What’s your house and neighborhood like?)

¿Vives solo/a? Si no, ¿con quién vives?
(Do you live alone? If not, who do you live with?)

¿Qué tan cerca queda tu casa de la escuela o el centro?
(How close is your home to school or downtown?)

¿Cómo es la sala de tu casa?
(What’s the living room like in your home?)

¿Cómo está decorado tu dormitorio?
(How is your bedroom decorated?)

How to Use Conversation Topics in Spanish Class

As Spanish educators, we must find a delicate balance between challenging our students and also cultivating their self-confidence, especially regarding their comfort with speaking.

I recommend emphasizing and rewarding their efforts and willingness to practice speaking. This often means temporarily placing grammatical correctness on the back burner (unless the errors are grave or repetitive, in which case you can gently correct them).

One way to encourage conversation is by exposing your students to Spanish as native speakers use it in their daily lives. For this, you can use a video-based teaching program like FluentU.

You can find videos relevant to your students’ interests and build a conversational lesson around them. 

It can also be helpful to start with a more general or broad question for each topic and then gradually get more specific, using vocabulary your students have learned in class.

 

I hope these topics to talk about in Spanish class prove useful to you and your students!

Conversing is the most important part of language learning to train the ears and tongue. It all starts with piquing students’ interests and choosing relevant topics that expedite students’ learning.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)