1) Is history important to you? 2) Did you like studying history at school? 3) What period of history interests you most? 4) What do you think of the recent history of your country – the past fifty years? 5) What do you know about the early history of your country 6) What do you think of the overall history of your country? 7) Do you think history repeats itself? 8) What period of history would you like to go back and live in? 9) Napoleon Bonaparte said “History is a set of lies agreed upon”. Do you agree with this? 10) “Half of writing history is hiding the truth.” What do you think of this quote in relation to what was in your school history books? 11) Why do people like history? 12) What do you know about your family history? 13) Is there a history of illness in your family? 14) Would you like to be a historian? 15) In his book 1984, George Orwell says: “He who controls the past, controls the future; and he who controls the present, controls the past.” Do you agree? Does this apply to countries today? 16) Which people in the world have a troubled history? 17) Do you think history comes back to haunt us? 18) Does your country have a proud or violent history? 19) How would the world change if schools stopped teaching history to children and all history books were destroyed? 20) Sir Winston Churchill said: “Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.” Do you agree with him 21) Why is it important to learn history at school? 22) Did you enjoy studying history at school? 23) Do you feel you have a good knowledge of history? 24) Can you think of a great historical film you have seen? 25) What is more important, world history or your own nation’s history? 26) If you could meet one historical figure, who would it be? 27) Who is your nation’s greatest hero? 28) Who is the most influential person in history, for better or for worse? 29) Should we learn about the great heroes of history or about ordinary people? 30) Are you proud of your country’s history? 31) What is the most important historical site in your country? 32) How much of the history we know about can we really trust? 33) If you could travel back in time, which period would you visit? 34) Are you happy you were born at this moment in history? 35) What has been the most important historical event in the past 30 years? 36) Was the 20th century a great century? 37) Is there anyone alive today who will be remembered in a thousand years? 38) If you could erase one event from history, what would it be? 39) Do you think human beings have made progress over the course of history? 40) Have you ever witnessed a historical event? What about on television? 41) Do you think that history repeats itself? 42) What do you think is the most interesting period in world history? 43) Do you know much about the history of your country? How did it begin? 44) Besides your own country, which country’s history do you find the most fascinating? 45) Who is a person from history that you greatly admire? What did they do? 46) If you could go back in time to experience any historical event, what would it be? 47) What kinds of historical landmarks are there to visit near where you live now? 48) Who is a person that is alive today that you think will be remembered in history? 49) What is a historical place that you hope you will one day get to visit? 50) Can you think of a time and place in history that you are glad you weren’t alive for? 51) What history were you taught at school? Did you enjoy learning about it? 52) Who do you think is the worst person in history? Why were they so bad? 53) What time and place in history do you think created the most beautiful art? 54) Would you prefer to live now or 500 years ago somewhere else? Explain why. 55) What is your favourite historical book or movie? Why do you like it so much? 56) Has your country experienced much war in its history? Who has it fought against? 57) Does your country have any great heroes from the past? Why are they remembered? 58) Do you like visiting museums? When did you last visit one and what did you see? 59) Can you name 10 different historical figures from 10 different countries? 60) Which countries or cultures do you think have been unlucky in history? 61) What was the greatest past empire or civilization that the world has ever seen? 62) Where and when in history were some of the greatest scientific discoveries? 63) What is a major historical event that you think could happen in the next 100 years? 64) What’s a national holiday celebrated by your country that is related to history? 65) Would you like to be remembered in history? What for? 66) Was history a challenging subject at school? 67) Are you interested in reading historical books/watching historical films? What is the best historical book/film you have ever read/watched? 68) Do you believe we really learn from history? What have you personally learnt from history? 69) Are you proud of the history of your country? Why/why not? 70) Do you have a good memory? Do you remember dates / names / numbers easily? 71) To what extent can we trust stories from history? What are some of the famous historical lies? 72) Who is your favorite character in history? What qualities make him/her prominent 73) What kind of history did you study in school - social, industrial, European, Asian, local …? 74) How detailed was your study? Was there time to get into the details of what happened or did you just study a broad overview? 75) What is the purpose of studying history? What practical benefit is it? 76) George Santayana wrote “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”[1] What do you think it means? Do you think it is true? 77) Did you only learn important dates in history by rote or did you study their context? If the former, do you still remember them? If the latter, do you think the context helps you remember better other details? 78) Did you study only the history of your country or did you also study world history? 79) How much contemporary history did you study? 80) What aspects of history interest you most? Social history? Military history? 81) Do you think it’s possible to isolate historical events or are they all related in some way? 82) Winston Churchill said that history was written by the victors. Do you agree with that statement? If you do, then how reliable is the history that we study? 83) What’s your opinion of historical novels? Do you think they are a good way to learn something about history or do you think they are pure fiction? 84) Are there any particular figures from history whom you find particularly interesting? Who and why? 85) Which historical time and place would you most like to visit for a holiday? What problems or dangers might you encounter? 86) Although we live in the present our experiences will eventually become history. What things which have occurred over the last twenty years do you think will be recorded in the history books? 87) Have you ever directly witnessed an event and later seen it recorded differently in the press? In what way was it different? Why do you think it was changed? 88) What historical event would you make a movie about if you could? 89) Did you or do you like history? 90) Did you or do you like history classes at school? 91) What do you like about history classes the most? 92) Do you like when the teacher is telling stories from history? 93) Did you prefer watching documentaries and discussing them in class? 94) How do you think can people learn to understand history? 95) What is a good history teacher like? 96) Can you remember any history projects you had to make? 97) Which books do you think are important to go through to understand history? 98) Do you think history class is important? 99) Do you think everybody should know history? Why?

ESL speaking about history

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