Um... okay. This is a park, I think. It's sunny. There is many people. Uh, there is a family and they sit on a blanket, and, um, they eating. The woman eat sandwich and the boy also eat. A man is there, he throw a... a frisbee? And the dog run and jump. There is also, um, food, like bread and apple, some apple. And, uh, two children with a kite. And a man on bicycle, he go on the path. And there is water and duck. Some people is waiting, um, for ice cream I think.
Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene
Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene 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
- 23 published
The three-move description
- 1
Set the frame first — where, when, the overall feel
The listener cannot see the picture. One orienting sentence gives everything after it somewhere to attach.
- 2
Move through the scene in one direction
Front to back, or left to right. Our CLB 11 answer says "front and centre"; the CLB 5 jumps between people with no order, and coherence is what drops.
- 3
Add the detail only you noticed
A red-and-white checked blanket rather than "a blanket". This is where Vocabulary is actually scored.
Say where you are looking before you say what you see.
Position words are the cheapest coherence in this task.
Learn the prepositions of place, spatial phrases and descriptive vocabulary that let you describe a picture accurately and in detail for CELPIP Speaking Task 3.
You describe a photo to someone who cannot see it. Move systematically — foreground to background, left to right — using location phrases (in the foreground, to the left of) and present-continuous verbs for what people are doing.
What raters reward here
- Use several senses.
- Describe people and actions.
- Use the present tense.
- Move logically through the scene.
Three mistakes that cost points heremost common first
- 1Listing objects with no spatial relationship between them.
- 2Guessing at motives when the task asks only for description.
- 3Using the past tense for a picture that is happening now.
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, so this is a park in the city and it's a sunny day. There's a lot of people there. I can see a family, they are having a picnic on a blanket, a red and white one. The woman and the little boy are eating sandwiches and there's a basket with bread and some fruit. The father is throwing a frisbee for the dog, and the dog is jumping to catch it, it's quite funny. There's also two kids with a kite, and, um, a man on a bicycle and a woman running. Some people are waiting to buy ice cream. And there's a pond with ducks and, uh, lots of big trees. It's a nice park.
Alright, so this is a city park on a really warm, sunny afternoon — you can even see the skyline of the city poking out behind the treetops. Right in the foreground, there's a family having a picnic on a red-and-white checked blanket. The mum and a little boy in green shirt are working through their sandwiches, while the dad kneels down and throw a red frisbee, and their golden retriever is leaping in the air to catch it. Beside them there's a wicker basket with baguette, apples and grapes. Over on the left, two children are flying a kite next to some raised flower beds, and ducks are swimming on the pond. Further back, a cyclist and a jogger go past, and a few people are queuing at the ice cream cart. It's a really lovely, lively scene.
So, picture a city park on one of those gorgeous warm afternoons, with the skyline visible over the treetops. Front and centre, a family's spread out on a red-and-white checked blanket — a woman in a polka-dot top and a little boy in green are tucking into sandwiches, while the dad kneels and launches a red frisbee, and their golden retriever is stretched out mid-air, about to snatch it. There's a wicker hamper beside them, a baguette, a bowl of apples and grapes. Off to the left, two kids are getting a diamond kite up over the flower beds while ducks paddle around the pond. Behind them a cyclist winds along the path, a jogger breezes past with her headphones in, and a queue has formed at the striped ice cream cart. Under the tree on the right, an elderly couple are feeding crumbs to the pigeons. Honestly, the whole place looks idyllic.
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
- Should I describe everything in the picture?
- No. Cover the main people and actions clearly using precise location vocabulary rather than rushing to name every object. Organised detail scores higher than a long list.
- Which tense is best for describing a scene?
- Use the present continuous for actions in progress ("a man is crossing the street") and the simple present for fixed details.
The other 22 Describing a Scene prompts1 free
- ·At the Train Station
- ·A Downtown Street at Christmas
- ·A Busy Family Home
- ·A Family Preparing Thanksgiving in the Backyard
- ·Describing a Scene
- ·In the Public Library
- ·A Canada Day Parade Downtown
- ·A Day in the Waterfront Park
- ·A Classroom Presentation
- ·On the Cruise Ship Deck
- ·Rainy Day Downtown
- ·A Sunny Day at the Park
- ·Snowy Downtown Street
- ·At the Gym
- ·A Busy Office
- ·A Train Station
- ·A Clothing Store Sale
- ·A Family Kitchen in the Morning
- ·A Bus Stop in Winter
- ·A Busy Farmers Market
- ·A Library Reading Room
- ·A Snowy Street at Night