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Notion database for organizing ESL questionsConversation Questions

How to Use Notion to Organize ESL Conversation Question Banks

Mar 3, 2026·5 min read

I've got over 600 ESL conversation questions saved. Before Notion, they lived in a mess of Google Docs, sticky notes, and one very long email I sent to myself in 2022. Now they're in a searchable, filterable database. Here's the setup.

The Database Structure

Create a new Notion database with these columns:

  • Question (title) -- The actual question text
  • Topic (multi-select) -- Health, Travel, Work, Food, Technology, etc.
  • Level (select) -- A1, A2, B1, B2, C1
  • Type (select) -- Warm-up, Opinion, Experience, Hypothetical, Debate
  • Last Used (date) -- When you last used this question in class
  • Rating (select) -- Great, Good, Okay, Skip

The "Last Used" and "Rating" columns are what make this more than just a list. After a semester, you can filter for highly-rated questions you haven't used recently. That's gold.

Populating the Database

Don't type 600 questions manually. Generate batches in ChalkLab by topic and level, then paste them into Notion. A single generation gives you 10-15 questions. Do that across 10 topics and three levels, and you've got 300+ questions in under an hour.

Tag each batch as you paste it. This is the annoying part, but it pays off. If you skip tagging, you'll end up with another unsearchable mess -- just a fancier one.

Using Views for Quick Access

Notion's filtered views are where this gets useful. Create saved views like:

  • "B1 Health Questions" -- filtered by level and topic
  • "Great Questions Not Used This Month" -- filtered by rating and date
  • "All Warm-ups" -- filtered by type
  • "Need to Rate" -- filtered by empty rating field

Before class, open the relevant view, pick your questions, and update the "Last Used" date. Takes 30 seconds.

The Honest Limitations

Notion has a learning curve. If you've never used it, building the database takes an afternoon. And it doesn't generate questions -- you still need a separate tool for that. The mobile app works but isn't great for quick in-class access. Some teachers find Google Sheets more practical.

The real question is whether you'll maintain it. A beautiful Notion database you never update is worse than a messy Google Doc you actually use. Start small. Add questions weekly. Rate them after each class. The system compounds over time.

For generating the questions themselves, pair Notion with ChalkLab -- it handles creation while Notion handles organization. See my AI tools guide for more options.