Here is something worth knowing before you read a list of mistakes.
Most of the mistakes on this page are not made by weak speakers. They are made by good ones: people who talk for the full time, in clear English, on topic, and still sit at an 8 instead of a 9, or a 9 instead of a 12.
That is the list you want. The mistakes that cost points when your English is already fine.
There are eighteen. They fall into four groups: before you start, the middle, the ending, and the words.
🎥 All eighteen, with a Before and After line for each (17:37)
Each mistake is performed flat, then fixed, in one breath each. The chapter list is built to be scrubbed, so if one task is your problem, go straight to it.
Jump to: 0:46 doing the next task's job · 3:02 talking about the person, not to them · 4:11 two when the strategy says three · 4:42 promising three and delivering one · 8:48 speaking against your own choice · 9:39 saying what you learned · 10:30 saying thank you · 13:37 and, so, but for everything · 14:48 the wrong tone · 15:50 why you must write notes
1. Doing the next task's job
Tasks 3, 4 and 8.
Guessing what will happen next in Task 3. Describing the picture again in Task 4. Telling a story in Task 8.
The official descriptions draw the line themselves. Task 3 is "describe what is happening." Task 4 is "describe what you think will happen next." Task 8 is describing something to a person who cannot see it. Three different jobs, and each one gets credit only for its own.
❌ Task 3: There are dark clouds, so it is going to rain and they will all go inside.
✅ Task 3: There is a large dark cloud coming in from the right, and the papers on the cider stand are blowing away.
The fix: read the task name before the picture. Present tense for Task 3. Future for Task 4. Description, not story, for Task 8.
2. Wasting the first sentence
All tasks, worst on 2 and 4.
In this picture I can see… I have experienced many situations, but… That is a very interesting question.
A strong opening is one of the clearest differences between a 9 and an 8. In a sixty-second task, the first sentence is scored and the throat-clearing before it is not.
❌ Well, I have had many experiences in my life, and one of them that I remember is…
✅ So this happened in Toronto, the first time I went there on my own.
The fix: your first sentence is content. Write it in your preparation time, word for word, because it is the one sentence worth writing out.
3. Starting with a detail, not the wide shot
Tasks 3 and 8.
The first thing said is a woman's boots, and the listener has no idea where they are.
CELPIP's advice for Task 3 starts with a general statement, and the strongest Task 8 answers do the same: what the whole thing is first, then the parts.
❌ There is a woman in a red shirt, and she is holding an apple.
✅ This is a family apple farm on an autumn afternoon, and everybody is working.
The fix: one line for the whole place. Then the parts.
4. Talking about the person instead of to them
Tasks 1, 5 and 6.
He should think about his family when Daniel is standing right there.
An answer can have good reasons and the right tone and still lose marks because it says the couple, they, for them for sixty seconds without once saying you. Speaking to the person directly is part of what Tasks 1, 5 and 6 ask for.
❌ Daniel should visit the city before he decides.
✅ Daniel, I would go and spend a weekend there before you answer.
The fix: their name in the first sentence, then you. The pronoun is the strategy.
5. Two when the strategy says three
Tasks 1 and 7.
Two suggestions finish Task 1 at about fifty-seven seconds, and then there is silence.
Only two of the eight tasks publish a number, and they both say three. Task 1: "Provide at least three suggestions." Task 7: "Give about three reasons to support your position." Those are different wordings and they are not the same instruction, but neither of them is two. Length is a named factor in Task Fulfillment, and the silence at the end is where it goes.
The fix: at least three for Task 1, about three for Task 7. On every other task, no number is published, so develop what you have rather than counting.
6. Announcing a structure you never deliver
Task 7, and anywhere you say "first."
A common Level 8 pattern on Task 7 opens with The first one is, then never gives a second reason.
The answer promises a list and gives one item. The listener notices.
❌ The first reason is the cost… (ninety seconds later, nothing else)
✅ The main reason is the cost. My second reason is… And the third one is…
The fix: say the number you will actually deliver, or do not announce one. And write the reasons down before you speak, so the second one exists.
7. Naming a topic instead of developing it
All tasks.
Think about money is a category. It is not advice.
This is the most common reason a good answer stays at Level 8, on Task 1, Task 3, Task 5 and most of the others: the ideas are there, but they are not developed.
❌ You should really look at the financial side of things.
✅ Check what a one-bedroom apartment costs there before you answer, because a raise can leave you worse off.
The fix: the one-second test. If the person could have thought of it themselves in one second, it is a topic. Add a number, a day, a question to ask, or a person to call.
8. Describing everything
Tasks 3 and 8.
Fourteen things named, none described, and the whole minute used.
CELPIP's own advice for Task 3 is to focus on a few details rather than everything, and on Task 8, detail nobody needed does not earn marks.
The fix: choose three groups in your preparation time and leave the rest out on purpose. Three described well beats fourteen listed.
9. Saying "the people"
Tasks 3 and 4.
Predicting about everybody instead of someone you can point to.
Saying the people again and again reads as repetition, and it tells the listener nothing about who you mean. A stronger answer makes clear which person, or which part of the picture, each prediction is about.
❌ All the people will buy tickets and enjoy the show.
✅ The man in the grey jacket will get to the counter and buy two tickets.
The fix: one person, named by what they are wearing or holding. You already named them in Task 3.
10. Leaving the feeling out, or just naming it
Tasks 2, 3 and 4.
I was scared is a word. It is not a feeling anybody feels with you.
Task 2's strategy: "Try to get your listener to feel how you felt." Task 3's: "appearance, actions, and feelings." Task 4's: "what feelings might they experience as a result?" Three tasks publish it, and most answers stop after actions.
❌ I was very scared and very confused.
✅ I remember standing there holding a dead phone, and the street signs all said names I had never heard of.
The fix: give the thing that made you feel it, not the name of the feeling. In Task 3, what they feel now. In Task 4, what they will feel.
11. Arguing against yourself
Tasks 7 and 5.
Fifty seconds for the other side, in an answer that sounds balanced and thoughtful the whole way through.
This is a classic Level 8 pattern on Task 7: the answer contradicts itself, and spends more time on the problems its own choice would cause than on reasons for it.
The fix: pick the side you can argue, write it down first, and never leave it. The other side gets one sentence, at the end, and the second half of that sentence takes it back.
12. Saving the last ten seconds for a lesson or a summary
Every task.
This is the mistake almost every template teaches.
An answer can be cut off mid-sentence and still score at the top of the scale, as long as it has done everything the task asked before time runs out. A neat closing line does not earn extra marks on its own, and an answer without one does not lose marks for that alone.
Being cut off is not a penalty. A summary that pushes out a real detail is. Nobody is giving points for a tidy ending.
❌ …and so, in conclusion, this experience taught me to always carry a power bank.
✅ …and she drew me a map on a napkin. I still have that napkin, because
The fix: spend the last ten seconds on one more real detail and let the clock take the end of your sentence. If a prompt asks what you learned, answer it. If it does not, do not.
13. "Thank you" at the end of Task 6
Task 6.
A phone-call ending on a conversation with a person you have just given bad news to.
Thank you is how you end a phone call with a receptionist. After giving someone bad news, it sounds awkward and a little cold.
❌ …so from tomorrow we go through the checklist together. Thank you.
✅ …so from tomorrow we go through the checklist together. I know you can do this, Tom.
The fix: end on the person. Something about them that the decision has not changed.
14. Inventing an ask the question never made
Tasks 8 and 6.
A call for help and a reference number in Task 8. A request and a fallback offer in Task 6.
Nothing in CELPIP's advice for Task 8 asks for a request or a reference number, and nothing in its advice for Task 6 asks for a request. You are describing in Task 8 and explaining a decision in Task 6. Neither is a service call.
The fix: read the last line of the prompt. If it asks you to ask something, ask that. If it does not, do not invent one.
15. General words where a precise one exists
All tasks.
Beneficial. Different opportunities. A little bit. Really good.
None of these words is a mistake. They are just vague, and vague is what keeps a 9 from a 12.
❌ It would be really beneficial for the community.
✅ It would mean a family with a dog is choosing from four buildings instead of forty.
The fix: when you hear yourself say beneficial, stop and say what the thing actually does.
16. And, so, but for everything
All tasks, clearest on Task 5.
Not one complex sentence in ninety seconds.
The ladder in three lines. Level 8: mostly simple sentences. Level 9: complex sentences used fairly well, but mostly the same kind. Higher levels: a variety of complex sentences, joined with words like although, which, if and whereas.
❌ The organic basket looks nice but it costs more and people look at the price first.
✅ Although the one you picked looks beautiful, our customers look at the price first, which is why the discounted basket sells.
The fix: four words, one each: although, which, if, whereas. Variety, not quantity. Four of the same one does not earn the line.
17. Gluing a story together with and, but, so
Task 2.
Every sentence joined the same way, so the story never moves.
A mid-level story is usually joined with common transitions: and, but, so, because. A top-level story is joined with sequence words: when, the first time, from there, once, and then. The difference is a list of words.
❌ I came out of the station and I went the wrong way and my phone was dead so I was lost.
✅ When I came out of the station I turned the wrong way, and then my phone died, and from there I was completely lost.
The fix: for a story, the right-hand list. When, the first time, once, from there, and then, after that.
18. The wrong voice for the person
Tasks 1, 5 and 6.
Corporate with a friend. Flat when you are meant to want something.
Task 1 calls for a helpful, thoughtful tone with a friend. On Task 5, an answer that sounds unexcited about the choice it is arguing for loses on tone. Tone is a named factor, and it means whether the way you speak matches the person you are speaking to.
❌ You must carefully evaluate the financial implications.
✅ I would start by checking what rent actually costs there.
The fix: read who you are talking to before you plan a word. A friend gets a friend's voice. A choice you are arguing for gets a voice that wants it.
Writing sentences in your preparation time.
No examiner has written a note about this, and CELPIP publishes no advice on note-taking, so it does not belong in the eighteen. It belongs here because it causes about half of them.
One written sentence takes about eight seconds. On most tasks you have thirty. Write four lines of nouns and arrows instead, and the one full sentence you write is your opening line.
The four scoring areas, with their published factor names, and which of the eighteen lands in each.
Content and Coherence. Number of ideas, quality of ideas, organisation, examples and supporting details.
Mistakes 5, 6, 7, 8, 11. The repair is almost always development, not more ideas: one more specific thing about the idea you already have.
Vocabulary. Word choice, suitable use, range, precision and accuracy.
Mistakes 9, 15. The repair is precision. Say what it does, not how good it is.
Listenability. Rhythm and pronunciation, pauses and self-correction, grammar and sentence structure, variety of sentence structure.
Mistakes 16, 17. The repair is the two word lists above: sequence words for a story, although, which, if, whereas for everything else. Not because, so, for example, which is the list the examiners named at the lower level.
Task Fulfillment. Relevance, completeness, tone, length.
Mistakes 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 12, 13, 14, 18. The repair is reading the task: what it asks for, who it is to, and whether you did that job and not the next one's.
Microphone too low or too high. A finger-width from your mouth. Watch for a steady input bar on the practice task.
Skipping the warm-up. Use the practice task to set your volume and your pace before anything is scored.
Timer panic. When the bar is nearly full, do not start a new idea. Add one more detail to the one you are on, and let the clock end it. That is what the highest rated answers do.
- Task 1: their name, then you · at least three suggestions · one specific thing inside each · a friend's voice
- Task 2: first sentence is the story · sequence words · a feeling given as a thing · no lesson unless asked
- Task 3: one line for the place · three groups · appearance, action, feeling · present tense only
- Task 4: same picture, same people · one person, not the people · what they will feel · strongest line first
- Task 5: side in the first sentence · read their option · develop, do not add · although, which, if, whereas · no summary
- Task 6: their name, then you · one considerate sentence · decision in one line · no request, no fallback · not thank you
- Task 7: side first · about three reasons, different in kind · one detail each · other side in one sentence, last
- Task 8: wide shot first · three or four parts with position words · describe, do not name · ask only what the prompt asks
1. Find your three (10 min). Record one answer on each of three different tasks. Listen back with this page open and mark which of the eighteen you hear. Most people find the same three every time, and those three are your whole practice plan.
2. Before and after (5 min). Take any one of the eighteen and write your own Before line, then your own After line, on a question from the practice bank. One breath each.
3. The last ten seconds (5 min). Record three answers and listen only to the final ten seconds of each. If any of them is a summary, a lesson or a thank you, that is mistake 12 or 13, and it is the cheapest one on this page to fix.
Related: every task lesson carries the full version of its own mistakes: Task 1 · Task 2 · Task 3 · Task 4 · Task 5 · Task 6 · Task 7 · Task 8 · Scoring and Performance Standards for the sixteen factor names.