A1 Level – Elementary
1. Do you know Ikea?
2. What is a furniture store?
3. Do you like cheap prices?
4. What is a flat box?
5. Do you like Swedish things?
6. What is a long line?
7. Do you like big shopping trips?
8. What is a colorful room?
9. Do you eat the food there?
10. What is a screw?
11. Do you think Ikea is popular?
12. What is a simple bed?
13. Do you build furniture?
14. What are three things you can buy at Ikea?
15. Do you think their design is good?
A2 Level – Pre-Intermediate
1. What is the difference between Ikea furniture and handmade furniture?
2. Why does Ikea sell food and drinks?
3. What are the good things and bad things about furniture coming in flat boxes?
4. How can you plan your shopping trip in a very large Ikea store?
5. Should all furniture be easy to take apart and move?
6. Why is it sometimes difficult to put together Ikea furniture?
7. Do you think Ikea’s simple, modern style is good for everyone?
8. What is the purpose of the long winding path through the store?
9. How does Ikea manage to keep its prices low?
10. What is the difference between disposable furniture and quality furniture?
11. Do you think Ikea’s names for products are strange?
12. What are the problems when too many people buy the same popular item?
13. When is the best time to visit Ikea to avoid the crowds?
14. What are two differences between shopping online and shopping in the physical store?
15. How does the ability to assemble your own furniture make you feel?
B1 Level – Intermediate
1. What are the rules for politely asking for help when building difficult furniture?
2. How does the global success of Ikea affect local furniture makers?
3. Should the government set standards for how long furniture should last?
4. What is the difference between functional design and beautiful design?
5. Do you believe that buying cheap furniture encourages people to waste more?
6. What are the challenges of furnishing a large house using only Ikea items?
7. How does the store environment encourage impulse buying?
8. What is the idea of “upcycling” old Ikea furniture?
9. Is it fair or unfair when people judge others for having only cheap furniture?
10. How does the simple design of Ikea allow people to personalize their home more easily?
11. What are the steps for properly organizing a small apartment using Ikea storage solutions?
12. What is the value of teaching people how to assemble and repair their own items?
13. Should Ikea be required to offer a free service for recycling old furniture?
14. What are the reasons why some people find the instruction diagrams confusing?
15. How does Ikea affect the global market for wood and raw materials?
Video-based ESL lesson plan for B2 learners – “Ikea’s Iconic Furniture”
B2 Level – Upper-Intermediate
1. What are the social pressures to furnish your home in a certain style (like minimalism)?
2. What are the moral problems when furniture is designed to be difficult to repair?
3. How does the large volume of production affect the sustainability of the wood supply?
4. Should furniture companies be legally required to label the expected lifespan of their products?
5. Analyze the psychological effect of seeing your home perfectly styled in a store showroom.
6. Who is responsible for the large amount of packaging waste generated by flat-pack furniture?
7. What is your view on the practice of throwing away furniture when you move house?
8. Evaluate the role of the consumer in demanding more environmentally friendly materials.
9. How does the standardization of furniture size affect people living in very old or uniquely shaped homes?
10. Discuss the concept of “democratized design” that Ikea promotes.
11. What are the problems with relying on low-wage labor in manufacturing to keep prices down?
12. What are the legal differences between a product recall for safety and a recall for poor design?
13. Do you agree that the purpose of flat-pack furniture is mainly to save the company money, not the customer?
14. What steps should be taken to ensure that furniture is made with safe, non-toxic chemicals?
15. How does the global reach of a single brand like Ikea influence local taste and culture?
C1 Level – Advanced
1. Is it fair that the business model of mass-produced furniture relies on low-cost labor in developing countries?
2. What is the right way to think about a large company’s moral duty to promote a circular economy?
3. How do the platform’s algorithms influence the type of furniture that becomes a global trend?
4. When should governments limit the use of non-sustainable wood sources for furniture production?
5. What are the moral questions when we talk about encouraging a “disposable” view of household items?
6. How does the focus on cheap replacement affect the skill of furniture repair and restoration?
7. Discuss the impact of flat-pack logistics on global supply chain efficiency.
8. How should leaders use the popularity of DIY (do-it-yourself) to promote independence and repair skills?
9. What is the idea of “planned obsolescence” and how is it used in the furniture industry?
10. What are the long-term effects on society when people have no connection to the craftsmanship of their items?
11. What are the difficulties when courts try to decide if an injury was caused by poor assembly or faulty design?
12. How does the search for total convenience conflict with the need for durable, high-quality possessions?
13. Do you agree that the most important thing is the furniture’s function, not its price or aesthetic?
14. What are the simple moral rules a person should follow when getting rid of old, unwanted furniture?
15. Should the government set a legal minimum for the amount of recycled material in all mass-produced furniture?
C2 Level – Proficiency
1. What is the real difference between a person’s relationship with a treasured object and their view of a temporary, cheap item?
2. Debate the idea: Should we completely ban all furniture that cannot be easily repaired or fully recycled?
3. How does the concept of “home ownership” change when all items inside the house are temporary and replaceable?
4. What laws or rules are needed to control how companies use personal data about home furnishings for targeted advertising?
5. How do historical views of craftsmanship and artistry affect modern consumer demand?
6. How can communities maintain their traditional cultural styles when a single, global style dominates the market?
7. Argue the point that humans should stop all attempts to standardize living spaces and encourage total individuality.
8. What protection should laws give to small furniture makers against massive corporate competition?
9. How can we stop the problem of using cheap furniture to promote a culture of waste and disposal?
10. What did old thinkers say about utility, beauty, and the relationship between humans and objects that is still important today?
11. What will happen to the need for human construction workers if 3D printers can print entire houses and their furniture?
12. How do people use the idea of “temporary living” to avoid discussing the commitment to long-term quality?
13. How does the experience of building your own furniture improve a person’s feeling of competence and capability?
14. What is the power of a consumer boycott to force large companies to change their material sourcing?
15. If scientists could create a perfect, shape-shifting material for furniture, how would that fundamentally change home design?
