How Happy Are You? (Conversation Club)

This week the ‘Thinking in English’ Community is talking about happiness!

Every year we learn which countries rank the highest in overall happiness. Where does your country rank? How happy are your neighbours and fellow citizens?

Happiness, however, is difficult to define, and besides many countries have a wide range of happiness in their citizens. Perhaps happiness is within us, and not external.

Here are 10 conversation questions to get you talking about happiness!

The Thinking in English Conversation Club takes place every TUESDAY and THURSDAY at 12pm, 6pm, and 9pm UK time!

You can find more details on how to participate on Patreon and Discord!

Conversation Questions: How Happy Are You?

1. On a scale of 1 – 10, how happy are you and why?

2. How do you define happiness?

3. Where does your country rank in global happiness? Are you surprised?

4. Are you a naturally optimistic or pessimistic person?

5. Should governments prioritise improving happiness above all else?

6. Why do you think some Northern European countries rank so high in happiness?

7. Which countries do you think will increase in happiness the most in the future?

8. What is your biggest barrier to greater happiness?

9. Is happiness something we control, or is it a product of our environment?

10. “Money can’t buy happiness.”

What do you think of this quote?

Vocabulary List:

• Scale
  • a set of numbers, amounts, etc., used to measure or compare the level of something
• Define
  • to say what the meaning of something, especially a word, is
• Rank
  • to have a position higher or lower than others, or to be considered to have such a position
• Optimistic
  • hoping or believing that good things will happen in the future
• Pessimistic
  • thinking that bad things are more likely to happen or emphasizing the bad part of a situation
• Prioritise
  • to decide which of a group of things are the most important so that you can deal with them first
• Increase
  • to (make something) become larger in amount or size
• Barrier
  • anything used or acting to block someone from going somewhere or from doing something, or to block something from happening
• Product
  • a result obtained from experiencing something

Model Answers:

B1 (Intermediate) Model Answers

Vocabulary:

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B2 (Upper Intermediate) Model Answers

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C1 (Advanced Level) Model Answers

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See you all at this week’s conversation club!

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