CELPIP Speaking Task 1: Giving Advice

CELPIP Speaking Task 1 format and timing

You help a named person make a decision or prepare for something. Speak to that person using “you”, and connect each suggestion to their circumstances. For example, advice to a coworker who has never moved away from home should acknowledge their uncertainty and offer manageable actions.

A useful approach is to develop about three suggestions, each with a reason. Avoid spending the opening retelling the entire problem. Your listener already knows what they asked you about; they need to hear what you recommend and why it would help.

The timings above are test timings. The response plan below is our practice suggestion; you can adjust its divisions to suit your delivery.

How Task 1 uses the four speaking dimensions

• Content/Coherence: develop a few connected suggestions. Explain the benefit or practical consequence of each rather than naming unrelated ideas.
• Vocabulary: use precise everyday words for the situation, such as viewing, commute, or temporary accommodation when discussing a move.
• Listenability: make the advice easy to follow through clear phrasing, natural pauses, and controlled grammar. Conditional sentences can explain what might happen if the listener follows a suggestion.
• Task Fulfillment: address the intended person, answer their actual problem, and maintain a helpful tone throughout the response.

Complex language is useful when it expresses your meaning clearly. An awkward idiom can distract from otherwise sensible advice.

A response structure for giving advice

1. Preparation, 30 seconds: identify the listener’s main worry. Note three actions and a short reason for each; avoid drafting a complete speech.
2. Opening, about 10 seconds: greet the person and acknowledge the situation. A brief expression of understanding makes the advice feel personal.
3. Advice, about 65 seconds: explain your suggestions in a sensible order. Start with the decision that affects the others, and include a concrete example where useful.
4. Ending, about 15 seconds: identify the first action to take and offer encouragement.

These divisions are rehearsal guides. If one recommendation needs more explanation, shorten another rather than racing through every sentence.

Original Task 1 practice prompt

Your coworker Maya is moving to Halifax for a new job. She has never lived away from her family and feels overwhelmed about choosing a place to live and settling in. Give her advice about preparing for the move and making her first few weeks easier.

Speak directly to Maya as a supportive coworker. Her concerns include both practical arrangements and feeling alone, so make room for both. You can invent reasonable personal details for this exercise, but keep them consistent with the situation. During preparation, write action words such as “visit”, “compare”, and “join”, then attach a reason to each.

Task 1 sample answer

Why this sample works

• Content/Coherence: the response moves from housing to unpacking priorities and then social contact. Each recommendation addresses a different part of Maya’s worry.
• Vocabulary: “temporary”, “rental agreement”, and “moving checklist” describe concrete actions without making the conversation sound academic.
• Listenability: contractions and varied sentence lengths support conversational delivery. The longer conditional sentence about searching through boxes has a clear cause and consequence.
• Task Fulfillment: the speaker addresses Maya throughout and finishes with an offer connected to the first suggestion.

The estimated band describes our view of the sample’s language and development. Actual pronunciation, pacing, and hesitation would still matter in a spoken attempt.

Common CELPIP Speaking Task 1 mistakes

• Giving commands such as “You must do this” when a gentler recommendation would suit a worried coworker.
• Listing many ideas without explaining how any would make the move easier.
• Talking only about housing and ignoring the concern about being away from family.
• Telling a long story about your own move that leaves little time for advice.
• Repeating “you should” at the start of every sentence instead of varying the phrasing naturally.
• Ending with a new major suggestion that you have no time to explain.

On replay, underline each recommended action and its reason. If the reason is missing, add a short consequence before adding another suggestion.

How to review your timed response

Try the prompt before reading the sample, then listen to your own recording without following a transcript. Mark the point where your meaning becomes difficult to follow. Was the problem an unfinished idea, an unclear reference, a long pause, or a sentence that became too complicated? Choose one issue to work on in your next attempt.

Then check the transcript for relevance and useful detail. A readable transcript cannot establish how your pronunciation sounded. CLB Mock, the app CELPIP Practice Test: AI Score by Certloom Learning, gives an estimated CELPIP level (≈CLB) range from a transcript and timing metrics. Listenability, including pronunciation, is only estimated from fluency metrics. Use that feedback alongside listening to your recording.

Choose your next speaking exercise

Next, try Task 2: talking about a personal experience. It changes the focus from helping someone else to telling a clear story about what happened.

Want more examples first? See Task 1 questions with sample answers, or plan with the speaking templates.

Use the speaking overview to compare all eight tasks, and the score chart to understand the level scale. Read how AI scoring estimates work before interpreting app feedback. This is an unofficial practice guide with original exercises and samples. Its sample band is our teaching estimate, not a test result. Keep the useful structure, then change the details and wording so your next response is your own.