Questions To Ask To Stimulate Discussion

 

                

  1. When were you born?

  1. Where were you born?

    2. Were you born at home, in the hospital, or some other place?

    In what city, town, or country were you born?

    What is your nationality?

     

  2. What do you know about your family name?

    3. Was your family name changed when your family came to this country?

    What was your family’s name originally?

    What language does your family name come from?

     

  3. Who were the first members of your family to settle in this country?

    4. Why did they come to this country, and how did they get here?

    Where did they first arrive?

    What possessions did they bring with them?

    What language did they speak?

    Where did they come from?

    Did the place they came from have a different name from what it is called today?

    What stories were told about their life before they came here?

    Where did they first settle when they came here?

    How did they make their living?

     

  4. When and where were your grandparents born?

    5. What were their full names?

    What were some of the stories your grandparents would tell you about where they came from or what life was like for them when they were younger?

    Where are they buried?

     

  5. What were the full names of your parents?

    6. When and where were they brought up?

    How did they make a living?

     

  6. How many aunts or uncles do you have?

    7. What are their names and what do you remember about them?

     

  7. How many brothers or sisters do you have?

    8. What were there names?

    Are they younger or older than you?

     

  8. Where did you live as a child, and what was your hometown like back then?

    9. What do you miss the most about it?

     

  9. What was life like when you were growing up?

  1. If you had a nickname, how did you get it?

  1. How much schooling did you have?

    2. What was your favorite subject?

     

  2. If you had a favorite teacher, what was he/she like?

    3. In what ways did they influence you?

     

  3. If you worked as a child, what did you do?

    4. How old were you when you began to work?

    What type of work did you do?

    Describe a typical working day.

     

  4. What did you like doing most as a child?

    5. What games or instruments did you play?

    What was your favorite pet or toy?

    Who were your best friends and what did you do together?

    What is your happiest childhood memory and when did it happen?

    What stories come to mind about your childhood?

     

  5. What was your first experience with death?

    6. What did it mean to you?

    How did you deal with the loss?

     

  6. What beliefs or ideals do you think your parents tried to teach you?

    7.  

  7. What do you think influenced your life the most when you were young?

    8.  

  8. What great person have you known in your life?

    9. What made him or her special to you?

     

  9. What were your teenage years like?

    What goals did you have as a young person?

     

  10.  If you went to college, where and what did you study?

  1.  What led you to choose the type of work you do or did?      

            What did you like the most about it? 

            What did you like the least about it?

  1. When did you first meet your husband or wife?

    2. What were they like when you first met them?

    What attracted you to them?

    How old were you both?

    How soon after meeting did you marry?

    Where did you live after you got married?

     

  2. Were you ever in the military?

    3. What branch of the military were you in?

    Where were you stationed and what was it like?

    How long did you serve?

    Did you go to war?

     

  3. When did you have children?

    4. After whom was each child named?

    What stories come to mind about your children?

    How did the children change your life?

     

  4. Looking back, what do you think has been the happiest time in your life?

  1. What do you think has been the turning point in your life?

    2. How did your life change after this event?

     

  2. What have been the major accomplishments in your life?

  1. What have been the biggest problems, mistakes, or difficulties in your life?

    2. How did you overcome them or what did you learn from them?

    How did they affect your life?

  2. If you were to give advice to me, or any young adults today, what would it be?

    3. What have you learned from life?

    What has been its biggest surprise?

     

  3. What do you think your strengths are?

    4.  

  4. What activities do you enjoy most?

    5. What are your hobbies?

     

  5. What is your favorite place that you have visited?

  1. What is your favorite time of year or holiday?

  1. If you had your life to live all over again, what would you do the same and what would you do differently?

  1. Are there any thoughts you’d like to add?

                                                                                    

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