Conversation Questions
Colors
A Part of Conversation Questions for the ESL Classroom.
Note that "colors" is also correctly spelled "colours."
- What's your favorite color?
- Has your favorite color changed as you've grown older?
- Do you have a color that you hate?
- If so, what is it?
- Why do you hate it?
- Do you think colors affect your mood?
- How does red make you feel?
- How does green make you feel?
- How does blue make you feel?
- How does purple make you feel?
- How does black make you feel?
- How does white make you feel?
- How does yellow make you feel?
- How does brown make you feel?
- How does grey make you feel?
- What do you think of orange?
- Do you think different cultures have different meanings for colors?
- What do the different colors mean in your culture?
- Do you associate any colors with specific items, numbers, or letters not usually associated with color?
- Can you think of different idioms or expressions involving color?
- What's a "black and white" matter.
- What does it mean to "see red"?
- What does it mean to "feel blue"?
- What does it mean to "be yellow"?
- What's a "black tie affair"?
- What does it mean to be "blacklisted"?
- What does it mean to be "the black sheep in the family"?
- How many colors are in the rainbow? What are they?
- What colors are on your national flag?
- What's the best color for a car?
- What's the best color for a house?
- What do you think is the best color for lens in sunglasses?
- What's the color for passion?
- What's the color for hatred?
- What's the color for happiness?
- What's the color for sadness?
- What's the color for anger?
- What's the color for death?
- What's the color for jealousy?
- What is the color of envy ?
- What's the color for cowardice?
- What color is money in your country?
- Do you know anyone who is color blind?
- What colors do most color blind people not see?
- Do you think animals can see color?
- What does black-sheep of the family mean?
- Do you dream in color?
- How would you compare the feeling you get watching a movie in black and white to watching it in color?
- What color clothes do you like to wear?
- What colors do you think look good on you?
- What color shoes do you like to wear?
- What do you think is the strangest color for a car?
- How about a house?
- How about clothing?
- How about hair color?
- Do you know anyone who has dyed their hair a strange color? (... an unnatural hair color such as blue or multiple shades?)
- Have you ever seen a pet dog or cat with dyed fur?
- Do you think different colors have different meanings? If so, what do different colors mean?
- Do the color blind dream in color?
- Do you think people who are color blind can dream in color?
- What color ink do you like using the most?
- What is the meaning of writing with black ink?
- What is the meaning of writing with green ink?
- What is the meaning of writing with red ink?
- What is the meaning of writing with blue ink?
- What color of paper you like most if you want to write a letter to your friends or loved ones?
- What is the color of the bedspread on your bed?
- What is your least favorite color?
- What color toothbrush do you have?
- Does everyone in your family use a different color toothbrush?
- What color towels do you use?
- What color are the curtains in your bedroom?
- What does it mean when someone says he's feeling blue?
- What does it means when someone says they are green with envy?
- w\What does it means when someone says "you look green at the gills"?
- What does it mean when someone says "I was so mad I was seeing red"?
- What does it mean when someone says "he was black as an ace of spades"?
- What is pink eye?
- We are not sure what this means, but it was submitted.
- What does it mean when you see the color of a rainbow in your eyes?
- What would you think of life without colors?
- What do you think life would be like without colors?
- How would life change?
- What things wouldn't change?
- Are color blind people completely blind to all colors?
- Do you think a person's favorite color will always be his/her favorite color?
- Do favorite colors change throughout life?
- Have you ever tried to invent a new color?
- Try it right now: try to think of a color that doesn't exist, one you'd like to see.
- What does it look like?
- (Note: It is physically impossible to conceive of a color that isn't a shade of a color that already exists, but students will enjoy trying for a few minutes and the impossibility of it makes for good conversation.)
- What does the black sheep of the family mean?
- Do you like light or dark colors better?
- Which colors do you have to mix to get green? Orange? Purple? Black? Gray?
- What expressions include colors when discussing illness? (ex., white or pale, pink eye, black and blue for bruises, yellow fever)
- What expressions include colors and feelings? (ex. I feel blue, Green with envy, Red with rage, Turning red, Black circles under the eyes, You are turning blue (with the cold))
- What do the colors in your home country's flag represent?
- What is the most memorable in advertisements or commercials for you? (ex. the music, colors, movement, message)
- What does "a picture is worth a thousand words mean"?
- This word is used when traveling: I bought a ticket on the red eye flight. What might this mean?
If you can think of another good question for this list, please add it.
Thanks to Rhea Merz who suggested this topic and contributed the first 38 questions in December 2002.
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