So... one time I help my neighbour. She is old, maybe seventy, I don't know exactly. In the winter there is snow, a lot of snow, and she cannot... her door, she cannot open the door. So I take the shovel and I do the snow, and it is very heavy, the snow is very heavy. I am tired after. Um, she give me a coffee and she say thank you, thank you. And I am happy. Because my grandmother she is old also, so... yeah. I am happy for help her. That's it, I think.
Speaking Task 2: Talking About a Personal Experience
Speaking Task 2: Talking About a Personal Experience is part of the Speaking section of the CELPIP General test. You get 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak. It is scored on Content / Coherence, Vocabulary, Listenability, Task Fulfillment.
- Preparation
- 30 seconds
- Speaking time
- 60 seconds
- Prompts here
- 25 published
The three-move story
- 1
Anchor it — when, where, who
Our CLB 11 answer starts "about three years ago, when I was volunteering at a settlement centre downtown". The CLB 5 starts "one time I help my neighbour".
- 2
Tell what happened in order, in the past tense
One event, told through. The tense control is being scored while you do it.
- 3
End on what it changed
The prompt asks how it made you feel, and that final sentence is the one most candidates lose to the timer.
One story told fully beats three mentioned.
Breadth reads as avoidance; depth is what Content and Coherence measures.
Build the narrative vocabulary you need to describe a personal experience vividly and in order for CELPIP Speaking Task 2 — time markers, descriptive adjectives and feeling words that bring a story to life.
Task 2 asks you to recount something that happened to you. Use past-tense sequencing words (first, then, eventually) and emotional vocabulary so the rater can follow the story and feel the moment.
What raters reward here
- Set the scene briefly.
- Explain what you did.
- End with how you felt.
- Use the past tense.
Three mistakes that cost points heremost common first
- 1Starting a second story when the first one ends early.
- 2Slipping into the present tense halfway through.
- 3Describing the situation and never saying what you actually did.
How Speaking is scored
- Content / Coherence
- Whether your ideas are relevant, developed and logically ordered.
- Vocabulary
- The range and accuracy of your word choice under time pressure.
- Listenability
- How easy you are to follow as speech: grammar, flow, pacing, pauses and fillers.
- Task Fulfillment
- Whether you answered the actual question and covered what was asked.
Model answersthe same prompt, four levels
These are the answers our scorer was calibrated against. Reading a CLB 5 beside a CLB 11 for the same prompt is the fastest way to see what a level actually means. CLB 9 is marked as the target because it is the level that earns maximum language points for Express Entry.
Okay, I want to talk about my coworker Ana. She was new at my job and she was also new in the city, so she didn't know many people here. One morning she called me because her car didn't start and she needed to get to work. I was already driving, so I went to her place and I picked her up. It was okay, we were not so late. And after that I drove her to work for some time, until her car was fixed. It made me feel good. I think it's hard when you are new somewhere and you don't have anybody to call. So yeah, I was happy I could help her.
The time that comes to my mind happened about two years ago, when my friend Marco was moving to a new apartment. He hurt his back maybe a week before the move, so he called me and asked if I could help him, and I said yes right away. On the Saturday morning I got to his place around seven, and we spent almost the whole day carrying boxes down from third floor. There was no elevator in that building, which made everything much harder. In the afternoon two of his other friends joined us, and we finally finished around six. Honestly, I was exhausted, and my arms hurt for two days after that. But it still made me feel good, because Marco helped me a lot when I first arrived to this country. It felt like I was paying him back.
The example that stands out for me happened about three years ago, when I was volunteering at a settlement centre downtown. A woman came in who had arrived from Syria maybe six weeks earlier, and she was completely overwhelmed by the paperwork for registering her two children for school. Her English was very limited at that point, and the forms were dense, so I sat down with her for close to two hours and we worked through them line by line. I translated what I could, called the school board to clarify a couple of questions, and then walked her over to the school myself, so she wouldn't have to face that part on her own. Both of her kids started the following Monday. Honestly, that afternoon has stayed with me, because it reminded me how much difference a small amount of your time can make to someone who is genuinely stuck.
Now do it yourself and find out where you land
A model answer shows you the target. It cannot tell you whether your own response hits it — that is a CLB level for each criterion, with the sentences that earned it.
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Create your free account →Questions people ask
- What tense should my vocabulary be in for Speaking Task 2?
- Mostly the past tense, since you are recounting a real experience. The sequencing and descriptive words below all work naturally in past-tense storytelling.
- How do I make my personal story sound more advanced?
- Swap flat verbs and adjectives for the more precise, higher-CLB options below, and connect events with varied time markers instead of repeating "and then".
The other 24 Personal Experience prompts1 free
- ·A Meaningful Gift
- ·A Memorable Trip to a Foreign Country
- ·A Memorable Experience
- ·Trying Something for the First Time
- ·A Teacher You Remember
- ·An Important Decision
- ·The Best Movie You Have Ever Seen
- ·An Unexpected Positive Experience
- ·A Time You Felt Proud of Yourself
- ·A Memorable Live Concert
- ·A Surprise at a Restaurant
- ·A Memorable Day at Work
- ·A Memorable Trip
- ·Helping a Stranger
- ·A Memorable Family Celebration
- ·A Skill You Learned
- ·Learning Something Unexpected
- ·A Difficult Decision You Made
- ·A Time You Overcame a Challenge
- ·A Trip You Will Never Forget
- ·A Goal You Achieved
- ·A Person Who Influenced You
- ·Lost Something Important
- ·Getting Lost in an Unfamiliar Place