CELPIP Speaking Task 1: Giving Advice
Can you give clear, practical advice to someone in a friendly, natural tone?
A typical prompt
A cousin is moving to your city next month and has asked where they should look for an apartment. Give them advice about choosing a neighbourhood and what to watch out for when renting.
The one thing that scores 9+
Give two or three concrete pieces of advice, and attach a REASON to each ("…because…"). Advice without a reason sounds like a list; advice with a reason sounds like a person who has actually done it — that reasoning is what raters reward.
A Band-9 sample answer
Original — written to show the technique, not to memorise. Raters penalise memorised, off-topic answers, so use it as a model for structure, then say your own.
Hey, congratulations on the move! Okay, my biggest piece of advice is to choose your neighbourhood based on your commute, not just the rent — a cheaper place across the city can cost you two hours a day, and that adds up fast. Second, before you sign anything, go and see the actual unit in the evening, because that's when you'll hear the real noise and find out whether parking is a nightmare. And honestly, be suspicious of any listing that seems too cheap; ask why. Get everything the landlord promises in writing, especially who pays for heat and water, since 'utilities included' can mean very different things. If you can, talk to someone who already lives in the building — they'll tell you what the landlord won't. You'll be fine, just don't rush it.
What caps people at Level 7
- Giving only one piece of advice and then running out of things to say.
- Sounding like a robotic list — no reasons, no warmth.
- Being too formal; this is a friend, so a natural, encouraging tone scores higher.
Practise this task
Reading a sample only gets you so far — you improve by speaking under the clock. Take the prep time, record your own answer on your phone, and compare it to the sample above and the level descriptors in our CELPIP score decoder. All 8 speaking tasks run in thefree CELPIP full mock, and the whole format is in theCELPIP format guide.