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CELPIP · Speaking · S2

CELPIP Speaking Task 2: Talking About a Personal Experience

CELPIP Speaking Task 2, Talking About a Personal Experience, asks you to describe something that happened to you, such as a time you helped someone or faced a challenge. You have 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to tell the story clearly, including what happened and how you felt about it.

Preparation time
30 seconds
Speaking time
60 seconds
Prompt
"Talk about a time when..." plus follow-up questions
Rating areas
Content/coherence, vocabulary, listenability, task fulfillment
Scoring
Counts toward your CELPIP Speaking level (1 to 12)

How it works

  1. 1The prompt appears, usually with questions such as what happened and how you felt.
  2. 2You have 30 seconds to choose a story and plan it.
  3. 3Recording starts automatically.
  4. 4Tell your story in up to 60 seconds; recording stops at the time limit.

Sample task

Original sample · not from an official test

Talk about a time when you learned something new outside of school. What did you learn, and how did it change you?

Show a strong response

Outline: Setting (about 10 seconds): last winter, after moving, you signed up for a free skating lesson at the community rink. Event (about 25 seconds): falling repeatedly, then an instructor's simple tip about bending the knees, and finally skating a full lap. Result and feeling (about 15 seconds): you now skate with coworkers on weekends. Reflection (about 10 seconds): being a beginner again made you more patient with yourself.

A strong response picks one specific event, tells it in order with past tenses and time markers ("at first", "after a while", "finally"), answers every part of the prompt, and ends with a short reflection rather than trailing off.

Tips that work

  • Choose a story fast. A simple, specific memory is easier to tell well than an impressive but complicated one.
  • Use a clear sequence: when and where, what happened, how it ended, how you felt.
  • Answer every question in the prompt. If it asks how you felt or what changed, say so directly.
  • Keep your tenses consistent in the past and use time markers to guide the listener.

Common mistakes

  • Spending most of the minute on background and running out of time before the main event.
  • Talking in general ("I often...") instead of about one particular time.

Questions candidates ask

Does my story have to be true?

Raters score your language and how well you complete the task, not whether the event really happened. If no real memory comes to mind within the 30 seconds, a believable, simple story is better than silence.

How much can I say in 60 seconds?

Enough for a short story with a beginning, middle and end, plus one sentence of reflection. Practise with a timer so you get a feel for how much detail fits.

Which tenses should I use?

Mostly the simple past, with the past continuous for background ("I was waiting") and the past perfect when needed ("I had never tried"). Finish with the present for the effect it has on you now.

Other CELPIP Speaking tasks

CELPIP overviewCELPIP Speaking: all partsCELPIP full mock testsCELPIP articles on the blog