CELPIP Speaking Task 2 · Talking About a Personal Experience · question 1 of 20
A Snowstorm That Kept You Home
A CELPIP Speaking Task 2 practice question (Talking About a Personal Experience), with a model answer below. No sign-up needed. Read the task, take 30 seconds to prepare, then speak for 60 seconds, out loud, as you would on the test.
The task
Talk about a time when bad winter weather kept you at home or stopped you from getting somewhere. Describe what happened and how you spent the time.
- Read the task, prepare during the preparation time, then speak aloud for the speaking time.
- Preparation
- 30 seconds
- Speaking time
- 60 seconds
- Question
- 1 of 20
A simple way to build your answer
- Set the scene briefly: when, where and who.
- Tell the events in order, in the past tense.
- Finish with how you felt or what you learned.
Model answer · CLB 9
139 words · no sign-upLast January we had a huge snowstorm in Ottawa, and I remember it really well. I woke up on a Tuesday, looked outside, and my car had completely disappeared under the snow. The city had closed the schools, and my manager sent a message saying the office was closed too. At first I was a bit stressed, because I had a deadline that week, but I couldn't do anything about it. So I made a big pot of soup, called my sister in Calgary, and finally finished a book I'd been reading for months. In the afternoon my neighbours and I went out together and shovelled the whole driveway, which turned into a kind of snowball fight. Looking back, it was one of the most relaxing days I had all winter, and it reminded me to slow down sometimes.
Why this answer works
- Opens with a clear time and place (last January, Ottawa) so the listener is oriented at once.
- Moves through the day in order with linking words: at first, so, in the afternoon, looking back.
- Ends with a reflection, not just the events, which shows the speaker can express feelings and meaning.
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