CELPIP Tips: Speaking Task 3
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!
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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 shows a group of six people outdoors on a sunny day. It looks like they are a family that includes four children, two adults, and one dog. I can see a bright blue sky with some faint white clouds in the background, and there are two leafy trees on either side of the picture. There is also a white picket fence in front of the trees.
In the foreground, two of the children are playing on the grass with the dog on the bottom left of the picture. They are both smiling and it looks like they’re also running with the dog who has white fur with dark spots. The little boy has dark brown hair and is wearing a green t-shirt while the little girl to his left has a blonde ponytail and is wearing a pink jumper with a white collar.
In the centre foreground of the picture, another little boy is wearing a bright green t-shirt which looks exactly like the other little boy’s shirt. He has a red, blue, and yellow bike behind him and is fastening a yellow helmet under his chin.
The two adults are standing on the left side of the picture and the fourth child who looks a little older than the other three children is standing in front of them and he is pointing with his fingers. The woman is standing at the very left of the picture and she is wearing a pink knee-length dress, pink shoes, and eyeglasses.”