CELPIP Speaking Task 8: Describing an Unusual Situation
Can you describe something vividly to a listener and convey your own reaction?
A typical prompt
You are video-calling a friend to describe something strange you saw on your street this morning that you cannot fully explain. Describe what you saw so your friend can picture it.
The one thing that scores 9+
Describe it vividly enough that your friend can SEE it, and voice your own puzzlement ("it looked as if…", "I couldn’t figure out…"). Speak directly to the friend — the personal reaction is what makes it feel real rather than a report.
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.
You will not believe what I saw on my street this morning. I opened my curtains and right in the middle of the road there was a full dining table — a proper wooden one with a white cloth, plates, even a vase of flowers — just sitting there in the lane. And the strangest part was there were no people around it at all: no cars stopping, nobody eating, nothing. It looked as if someone had set it up for a fancy dinner and then completely vanished. I honestly couldn't figure out whether it was some kind of art project, a film shoot, or a neighbour's idea of a joke. I stood there for a good minute just trying to make sense of it. And then by the time I came back with my coffee, it was gone — the whole thing had disappeared. I still have no idea what it was about.
What caps people at Level 7
- Too vague to picture — no colours, objects or details.
- No personal reaction; it reads like a police report, not a call to a friend.
- Being too formal, when the task is a casual conversation.
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.