Choose one of the topics below related to jobs and talk about it as long as you can. Your partner will listen and add anything they think you have missed.
• Brain drain
• Casual jobs
• Child labour
• Childcare
• Dropping out of corporate life
• Graduate jobs
• Inequality
• Job insecurity
• Jobs in the future
• Lifetime employment
• Long term unemployment
• Manufacturing in Japan
• NEETs
• Outsourcing
• Post-industrial society
• Public servants
• Retirement
• Sexual harassment
• The black economy/ underground economy
• The glass ceiling
• The knowledge economy
• The service sector
• The sex industry
• The working poor
• Traditional arts and crafts
• Unions and union action (strikes etc)
• Work visas
• Youth unemployment
Do the same with issues from the list below. This time your partner will listen and tick off the sub-topics you mention, then ask you about anything you haven’t said yet.
Abortion Ageing population
Alcoholism Assisted suicide
Bankruptcy
Body image problems (e.g. anorexia/ bulimia)
Breakup of marriages (e.g. divorce and separation)
Bullying Censorship
Children in care Community activism
Control of the internet Corruption
Dangerous dogs Data protection problems
Debt Discrimination
Domestic violence Drinking and driving
Drop in belief in religion Dropping educational standards
Falling birthrate Gambling addiction
Gentrification Globalisation
Graffiti Hard drug use
Health scares Homelessness
Human trafficking Illegal gambling
Illegal weapons, e.g. firearms Immigrants not assimilating
Lack of affordable quality housing
Lack of blood bank blood/ donated organs
Lack of giving to charities Lack of health insurance
Lack of local democracy Lack of respect for elders
Lack of respect for teachers Lack of social mobility
Loneliness/ Social isolation Malnutrition
Multilingual classrooms
Neighbourhood watch organisations/ Vigilantism
Obesity Old people’s homes
Organised crime (e.g. mafia and gangs)
People released from prison not being able to fit back in to society
Political extremism Pornography
Poverty Prescription drug addiction
Problems with pest control (e.g. rats and cockroaches)
Protests/ Demonstrations Recidivism
Rise in crime Runaway children/ Missing children
School absenteeism School violence
Self-harm Shrinking middle class
Single member households Stress-related illnesses
Single parent families Smoking
Soft drug use Squatters
Suicide Teenage pregnancy
Terrorism Underage sex
Youth violence
Listen to your partner talk about their topic and tick off the topics below that they speak about. When they have finished speaking, ask them questions about any relevant topics they haven’t mentioned.
o Reason for choosing this topic
o Reasons for this thing/ Who is to blame
o Connections to other issues
o Consequences/ Effects
o How big an issue it is
o Statistics
o The history of this issue/ Trends
o Similarities to other issues
o Things heard, read or seen related to this issue/ Media coverage of this issue
o This issue in Japan and abroad
o Where it is a big issue
o Who is most affected
o Who is most concerned about it
o Feelings about/ Opinions on it, including what other people think about it
o The future of this issue
o Attempts to solve this issue/ Possible solutions for this issue
o Reactions by (local or national) government
o Reactions by international organisations
o Reactions by NGOs
o Reactions by the general public
o If it is a common topic of conversation or not and why
o If it is controversial or not, and why
o Personal experience
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PDF for easy saving and printing: social issues extended speaking
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