Question Wheel
Spin the wheel, land on a topic, get a conversation question — a no-prep speaking starter for any language lesson.
8 topics · 64 questions
Press SPIN to get your first conversation question.
How to play
Spin the wheel
Hit SPIN and let the wheel pick a topic — travel, food, dreams, the future and more. No more staring at each other wondering what to talk about today.
Read the question
A conversation question from the winning topic pops up. Read it aloud, give your student a moment to think, then let them do the talking.
Dig deeper
Push for follow-ups: why? when? what happened next? Tap “New question” for another one on the same topic, or spin again for a fresh subject.
Ways to use the Question Wheel in your lessons
Answer, then ask back
The simplest upgrade to a basic spin: after your student answers, they have to ask you the same question — or a related one — back. Learners get endless practice answering questions but very little practice forming them, so this doubles the grammar work hidden in every spin. With B1+ students, ban the exact wording: they must rephrase the question before returning it.
The two-minute monologue
For exam preparation or fluency building, treat each question as a prompt rather than a chat. The student gets thirty seconds to think, then speaks for one to two minutes without stopping while you stay silent and note errors for delayed feedback afterwards. The wheel's randomness is the point — speaking exams don't let candidates choose their topic, and neither does the wheel.
Interview chains for groups
One-to-one, the wheel structures a dialogue; in a group it can structure the whole room. Try interview chains: student A spins and answers, student B must ask A a follow-up question, then student C summarises A's answer in one sentence before the next spin moves the roles along. Everyone listens, because everyone is one spin away from a job. In larger classes, one spin on the projector gives every pair the same question to discuss at once — then compare answers across the room.
Tuning the difficulty — and the screen
At A1–A2, read the question aloud yourself, simplify the wording, and accept short answers — then push exactly one follow-up ("Why?"). At B2–C1, layer on constraints: answer entirely in the past tense, defend the opposite of your real opinion, or work three words from last lesson's vocabulary into the answer. Online, share your screen but hand over control where you can — a student clicking SPIN themselves is a small ritual that buys real buy-in, and the few seconds while the wheel turns are free thinking time.
Frequently asked questions
What levels is the Question Wheel for?⌄
Most questions sit comfortably in the A2–B2 range. Lower-level students can answer in a few short sentences; stronger students can treat each question as a one- or two-minute mini-talk. For A1 learners, simplify the wording as you read it aloud; for C1, add constraints — answer in the past, defend the opposite opinion, or compare two answers.
How can I use it in a lesson?⌄
Three easy ways: as a warm-up (two or three spins in the first five minutes gets a student talking before the textbook opens), as a five-minute energy reset mid-lesson, or as the backbone of a full conversation class — spin, talk, correct, spin again. It also works well for speaking-exam practice, since random topics mimic the unpredictability of an examiner's questions.
How long does a Question Wheel activity take?⌄
One spin-and-answer cycle takes two to four minutes once you include follow-up questions. As a warm-up, budget five minutes for two or three spins; as the spine of a conversation class, six to eight spins comfortably fill half an hour. Because every spin is self-contained, you can stop the moment the main lesson needs to start — there's nothing to finish.
How many questions are there?⌄
64 original questions across 8 topics — travel, food, work and study, dreams, daily life, fun, people and the future. All of them are open-ended (no yes/no dead ends), and the wheel remembers what it has shown recently, so repeats within a lesson are rare.
Does it work in group classes as well as one-to-one?⌄
Yes. One-to-one, the wheel structures a dialogue between you and your student; in a group it becomes a turn-taking machine — one student spins and answers, and the others must each ask a follow-up question before the next spin. In larger classes, spin once on a projector or shared screen and have pairs discuss the same question simultaneously, then compare answers as a class.
Can students use the wheel on their own for homework?⌄
They can, with one tweak: the questions are written for conversation, so a student working alone should answer out loud rather than in their head. A homework task that works well — spin three times, record a one-minute spoken answer to each question on their phone, and bring the recordings to the next lesson for feedback. Written answers are fine too, but the wheel's real value is unrehearsed speaking.
Can my student and I use it together online?⌄
On this page the wheel is single-screen, so on a video call just share your screen and spin. Inside a Tuton classroom you'll find conversation activities you and your student play together in real time — right next to your video, lesson notes and vocabulary.
Love a good conversation starter?
Tuton's classroom comes with conversation games you play live with your student in real time — alongside video, lesson notes, vocabulary and AI feedback, all in one place.