CELPIP Speaking · free template
CELPIP Speaking Task 1: Giving Advice
CELPIP Speaking Task 1 gives you 30 seconds to prepare and 90 seconds to speak. The prompt asks you to advise a friend or family member on an everyday decision - changing jobs, choosing an apartment, learning to drive.
Ninety seconds is the longest speaking window on the test, so the risk is running dry halfway. The framework below paces it: a warm opening, two pieces of advice each backed by a reason, and a short encouraging close.
- Preparation
- 30 seconds
- Speaking time
- 90 seconds
- Format
- Advise someone on an everyday decision
The template
Acknowledge
Show you understood the problem before solving it.
“It sounds like the commute is what is really wearing you down.”
Recommend
One clear recommendation, hedged. "You might want to consider…" reads higher than "you should".
“You might want to consider asking about a compressed four-day week.”
Justify
Say what the advice is meant to produce.
“That would give you a full day back without changing your income.”
Reassure
Close warmly. The task is interpersonal, not just informational.
“Whatever you decide, it is a reasonable thing to ask for.”
A real prompt, with model answers
This is a free exercise from the Speaking Task 1 question bank, shown with its scored model answers - the same responses learners compare against after submitting. Read the prompt, try answering with the template above, then see how the three levels differ.
Speaking Task 1 prompt
Advising a Cousin About Quitting Work to Train
Your cousin has been accepted into a full-time training program in Burnaby. To attend, he would have to quit the steady job he has held for six years. He is excited about the program but nervous about a year without income.
Advise him on what he should consider when making this decision.
Basic responseestimated CELPIP level 5
Okay, so my cousin want to join this training program. I think is a good chance but also risky. First he must think about the money. He have no salary for one year, so he need enough savings. Maybe he can do a part time job on the weekend. Second, he should think about his job now. If the job is boring and there is no promotion, then okay, he can leave. But if his boss is good, maybe he can ask for a break instead of quit. Also he should check the program is a real one and companies want it. Um, so I think he need to talk with his family first and make a plan.
What works: Covers three separate considerations and gives a clear final recommendation.
What holds it back: Frequent subject-verb agreement errors and very simple sentence patterns limit the range shown.
Good responseestimated CELPIP level 8
Well, I'd tell my cousin that this is a big decision, so he shouldn't rush into it. The first thing he needs to look at is the money. If he quits, he'll have no income for the whole program, so he should work out how many months of expenses he has saved and whether he could take some part-time hours in the evenings. The second thing is the job itself. He's been there six years, so before he resigns he should ask whether the company would give him an unpaid leave instead. That way he'd still have something to come back to. And the last thing is the program. He should find out how many graduates actually get hired and how long that usually takes. I'd say talk to a couple of people who finished it before he gives his notice.
What works: Clearly organized around three considerations, with natural contractions and a practical closing suggestion.
What holds it back: Vocabulary stays fairly plain and a few points are asserted without being developed.
Excellent responseestimated CELPIP level 11
The way I see it, there are really three things my cousin has to weigh here. The first is the financial side, obviously. Six years in a steady job means he's probably built up some savings, but a year with no income disappears faster than anyone expects, so I'd have him sit down and add up what he actually spends every month, rent, insurance, transit, all of it, and see how long that cushion would realistically hold. The second thing is whether quitting is even necessary. Plenty of employers will grant an unpaid leave for training, especially for someone who's been loyal that long, and if his manager agreed to that, the whole risk changes shape. It costs him nothing to ask. And the third one, which people always skip, is whether the program leads where he assumes it leads. He should track down two or three graduates and ask them straight out how long the job search took. If those answers are encouraging and he has a fallback, then honestly I'd tell him to go for it, because a job you've outgrown isn't as secure as it feels.
What works: Idiomatic, well-paced delivery with each consideration fully reasoned through to a conditional recommendation.
What holds it back: The financial point runs slightly long, leaving the third consideration a little compressed.
Put the template to work
Reading a structure is the easy half. Rehearse Speaking Task 1 against the real clock with exam-style prompts and instant feedback.
Practice Speaking Task 1Speaking Task 1 - common questions
- How many pieces of advice should I give?
- Two, each with a reason and a quick example, fills 90 seconds comfortably. One piece of advice runs out of material; three forces you to rush and drop the explanations, which is where the marks are.
- What if I have no opinion on the topic?
- Invent one - the rater scores your English, not your sincerity. Pick whichever side gives you more vocabulary to work with and commit to it. Hesitating over what you really think spends your 30 seconds of preparation on the wrong problem.
- Should I use the 30 seconds of prep time to write notes?
- Use it to decide your two advice points and their reasons - nothing more. There is no time to script sentences, and reading from notes flattens your intonation. Decide the skeleton, then improvise the words; that is exactly what this template is for.