CELPIP Speaking · free template
CELPIP Speaking Task 8: Describing an Unusual Situation
CELPIP Speaking Task 8 shows you a deliberately strange image - an impossible sculpture, an odd vehicle, a surreal scene - and asks you to describe it to someone who cannot see it, usually over the phone. You get 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak.
Nobody has the exact word for a thing that does not exist, and that is the point: the task measures paraphrase. The framework below leans on comparison language - "it looks like", "it reminds me of", "imagine a… but with…" - to make the unexplainable explainable.
- Preparation
- 30 seconds
- Speaking time
- 60 seconds
- Format
- Describe a strange image to someone who cannot see it
The template
The step-by-step framework for this task is being written. The structure advice above already covers how to shape your answer.
A real prompt, with model answers
This is a free exercise from the Speaking Task 8 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 8 prompt
The Tractor-Seat Bench
You are walking through a park in a small town and notice a bench unlike any seat you have ever used.
Call your friend Mira, who is building seating for her cafe patio and is hunting for ideas.
Describe in detail what the bench looks like, and ask her whether she thinks a similar design could work for her cafe patio.
Basic responseestimated CELPIP level 5
Hi Mira, it's me. I am in the park right now and I see a very strange bench. It is... how to say... it is made from a tractor seat. The seat is metal and it has small holes in it. The legs are not normal legs, they are metal bars, and the bars are bended in zigzag shape. It looks old, there is some rust on it, orange colour. But it is interesting, you know? You are making chairs for your cafe, so maybe this give you idea. Do you think a bench like this can work for your patio? Maybe come see it.
What works: Covers both halves of the task, describing the bench and asking the required question.
What holds it back: Grammatical errors such as 'it is bended' and 'this give you idea', plus very simple vocabulary, limit the score.
Good responseestimated CELPIP level 8
Hey Mira, you'll never guess what I just found. I'm walking through the little park downtown and there's this bench that's actually made from an old tractor seat. It's a wide metal seat, the kind with a pattern of round holes punched through it, and instead of normal legs it's welded onto thick steel bars that somebody bent into a zigzag shape. There's a bit of rust on it, but honestly that makes it look kind of stylish, almost like it was designed that way on purpose. Since you're building seating for the cafe patio right now, I immediately thought of you. Do you think something like this would suit your patio, or is it too industrial for the look you want?
What works: Well organized, with clear details in a logical order and a natural, personalized closing question.
What holds it back: Relies on fairly common vocabulary and could add more precise detail about size, comfort, or construction.
Excellent responseestimated CELPIP level 11
Mira, hi, quick call because I've stumbled on something you have to hear about. I'm in the park in Ladner and someone has installed a bench that's basically a piece of folk art. The seat itself is a genuine metal tractor seat, one of those broad, curved saddles with a ring of drainage holes stamped through it, and it's been welded onto legs made of rebar, the ribbed steel rods you'd normally see buried in concrete. Whoever built it bent each rod into these loose zigzags, so the whole thing looks springy even though it's completely rigid. There's a lovely patina of orange rust over the steel, which sounds shabby but actually reads as deliberate, almost boutique. Given that you're putting together seating for the cafe patio, this struck me as exactly your kind of thing, sturdy, weatherproof, and a guaranteed conversation starter. Do you reckon a run of these along your patio wall would work, or would they clash with the cedar tables you've already ordered?
What works: Rich, precise vocabulary ('patina', 'ribbed steel rods', 'reads as deliberate') and a fully developed description tied naturally to the listener's situation.
What holds it back: Runs slightly long for sixty seconds, so a candidate would need controlled pacing to finish the closing question in time.
Put the template to work
Reading a structure is the easy half. Rehearse Speaking Task 8 against the real clock with exam-style prompts and instant feedback.
Practice Speaking Task 8Speaking Task 8 - common questions
- What if I don’t know the word for what I’m looking at?
- You are not supposed to - the image is chosen so no one does. Describe by comparison and function: "it’s shaped like a giant spoon", "it seems to be used for carrying water". Fluent paraphrase around a missing word is precisely the skill being scored.
- How should I organize a description of something chaotic?
- Same spatial order as Task 3: one overall impression ("It looks like a bicycle made of chairs"), then the main object part by part - size, colour, material, position - then anything happening around it. Order is what keeps a weird image describable.
- Who am I describing the image to?
- The prompt names a listener - often a friend on the phone. Keep the phone-call frame: "You won’t believe what I’m looking at…". It licenses informal register and reaction language ("it’s honestly the strangest thing I’ve ever seen"), which raters hear as natural fluency.