Would You Rather
Pick a side, then say why — 60 original questions for ESL speaking practice, from easy choices to big dilemmas.
Would you rather…
0 answered
Tip for tutors: push for “I’d rather… because…” and a follow-up question back to you.
How to play
Read both options aloud
Each question gives two choices. Have your student read both out loud first — it's a sneaky bit of pronunciation practice before the real speaking starts.
Pick a side
Tap the option you'd choose. There's no right answer — gut feeling is fine. Lower-level students can answer with a full sentence: "I'd rather have a pet dog."
Say why — that's the game
The choice is just the warm-up; the reasons are the lesson. Push for two reasons, a comparison ("because trains are more relaxing than planes"), or flip it: "Why NOT the other one?"
Teaching with Would You Rather
Make the dilemma do grammar work
The choice itself takes two seconds — the language target is what you attach to it. At A2, require a full sentence with a reason: "I'd rather have a dog because dogs are friendly." At B1, demand a comparative in every answer: "Trains are slower, but they're much more comfortable than planes." At B2, insist on a concession before the opinion — "Even though money would solve a lot of problems, I'd still rather have more free time" — and you've quietly turned a party game into a complex-sentence drill.
Variation: Devil's Advocate
After the student picks a side and explains it, they have to argue the other side for one minute as if they believed it. This is gold for C1 learners and exam candidates: it separates language from personal opinion, which is exactly what discursive essays and speaking exams demand. Most students find defending the side they rejected harder — and more memorable — than their honest answer.
Variation: Pass the Question
Every second card, the student reads the dilemma aloud and interviews YOU — and must follow your answer with at least two follow-up questions. Learners spend whole courses answering questions and almost no time forming them, so this flips the most neglected skill into the center of the game. It also gives you a natural way to model richer answers they can borrow next round.
With one student, a group, or a webcam
One-to-one, answer the questions yourself too — hearing your reasons doubles the language input and makes the game a conversation instead of a quiz. In a group, get everyone to commit to a side before anyone speaks, then pair off students who disagreed: a genuine information gap does the motivation work for you. Online, share your screen and hand control of the clicking to the student — owning the buttons keeps remote learners engaged in a way watching never does.
Frequently asked questions
What levels do these questions work for?⌄
Roughly A2 to C1. The deck is tagged by level: A2 questions use concrete topics like food, animals and travel; B1 questions compare everyday trade-offs; B2 questions are abstract dilemmas — time versus money, fame versus privacy. With C1 students, turn any question into a mini-debate: they defend one side for a minute, then switch and argue the opposite.
How do I use Would You Rather in an ESL lesson?⌄
It's a five-minute warm-up with a clear language target. Common structures to drill: "I'd rather… because…", comparatives ("cheaper", "more interesting"), and the second conditional ("If I had a pet elephant, I would…"). Ask follow-up questions, then have the student ask YOU the next one — question formation is the skill most learners practice least.
What language skills does Would You Rather actually train?⌄
Justifying opinions is the core skill: giving reasons, comparing options, and conceding a point before defending your own ("Planes are faster, but trains are more relaxing"). It also rewards fluency over accuracy — the dilemma creates a real reason to speak, so students stop translating in their heads and start arguing. Hedge phrases like "I suppose" and "it depends" come up naturally, which is exactly the soft language exams and real conversations demand.
Are the questions classroom-safe?⌄
Yes. All 60 pairs were written for language lessons with an international audience — no culture-specific trivia, no brand names, and nothing dark or adult. You can use the deck with teenagers and adults alike.
Does it work better one-on-one or in a group class?⌄
Both, but the dynamic changes. One-on-one, you answer too — students love discovering their tutor would rather give up music than coffee, and it doubles the language model they hear. In groups, have everyone commit to a side before anyone explains, then pair students who chose differently: a built-in information gap means they genuinely want to hear each other's reasons.
Can students play it alone as homework?⌄
Yes — the deck is free and needs no signup. Ask the student to work through five questions and record a short voice note giving their choice and two reasons for each, or write their answers as full sentences. It turns a classroom warm-up into low-pressure speaking practice between lessons.
Can my student and I play it together online?⌄
On this page the game is single-screen, so on a video call you'd share your screen. Inside a Tuton classroom there's a real-time Would You Rather activity — you and your student see the same question and answer together, right next to your video, lesson notes and vocabulary.
Love this? Play it live with your students.
In a Tuton classroom you and your student play Would You Rather together in real time — plus video, lesson notes, vocabulary and AI feedback, all in one place.