CELPIP Tips: Speaking Task 3 – Describing a Scene
The third task of the Speaking Test asks candidates to describe a scene in a picture. Learn more about techniques including descriptive phrases and appropriate verb tenses to use in this task!
Because this task requires you to describe what is happening, you will primarily be using present continuous tense which describes actions or events that are already in progress when we speak about them.
It is important to use phrases that describe locations and positions within the pictures such as, “in the top left corner”, “beside the woman in the long blue dress”, and “in front of the red bicycle.”
Also, remember to use adjectives which provide more specific details about an image. For example, instead of saying “the young boy”, you should say, “the young boy with short black hair who is wearing a bright red jacket and reading a book.”
An effective way to organize your response is by starting with the overall or general description of the scene and then moving into the specific points and details. A good was to do this is by thinking of the 5 ‘W’ questions in the following sequence: Where? Who? What? And then possibly When? and Why?
Now we will look at an example picture and response. Remember, you can practice this task by looking at any picture and describing what you are seeing!
Describe some things that are happening in the picture below as well as you can. The person with whom you are speaking cannot see the picture.
Preparation: 30 seconds
Recording: 60 seconds
(*Please note that the response time is only 60 seconds which doesn’t allow enough time to describe the whole picture!
Try describing different parts and aspects of this picture for more practice!)
This picture is of a school classroom. Based on the students’ appearances, it looks like it is a middle school class, and there are 13 or 14 students and 2 adults in the picture. Most of the students are sitting at their desks which are yellow and white and the chairs are red.
There is a black chalkboard in the background with some math equations written on it with white chalk. A boy wearing a light green t-shirt is pointing to the chalkboard with his left hand and there is a boy beside him with blond hair who is also pointing to the same spot.
In the top right corner, there is a doorway where two adults are talking. The woman with a red ponytail who looks like the teacher is wearing a brown skirt and her back is facing the class. She is speaking to a man who looks like he might be the principal of the school.
In the bottom left corner, a student who has blond hair is wearing a pink shirt, and he is holding what looks like a smart phone or video game. The boy who is sitting on the desk to his right has short black hair and is wearing a light blue shirt, and his right hand is on the other boy’s desk and it looks like he is saying something to him.