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CELPIP Speaking Task 8 gives you 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak. Here is the three-line note, the words you need, and the one move that separates a 9 from a 12.
In Task 8 you see a picture of something strange or unexpected. You have 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak, and your job is to describe that picture to a person on the phone who cannot see it.
Most people make the same two mistakes. They start with the small details, and they try to describe everything. Sixty seconds is not enough for either.
Wide shot, then close-ups.
Think about a camera. A wide shot shows the whole thing at once. A close-up shows one small part, very near. In Task 8 you give the wide shot first, in one sentence, and only then move to the parts.
This is not a preference. CELPIP publishes rated sample answers for this task with the examiner's written analysis beside each one. The answer that scored 12 was credited for telling the listener what the whole thing was, and then describing the objects and where they sit in relation to one another. The answers below it did not do that.
Almost nobody teaches this, and it costs nothing to do.
🎥 A full 60-second answer, built from three lines (11:19)
This page is the method and the word banks. The video is the demonstration: a real question from the practice bank, the handwritten note made in 30 seconds, and a complete answer delivered against a live timer.
Jump to: 1:35 the 30-second note · 1:46 the full sample answer · 3:44 line 2, the wide shot · 5:52 the five phrases that connect a description · 7:46 wide shot, then close-ups · 8:27 your 60 seconds second by second · 10:21 why this is not a call for help
You are given a pen and paper on test day. Most people write nothing, or they try to write full sentences and run out of time. One written sentence takes about eight seconds, and you have thirty.
So write three short lines and nothing else.
ask? is there a question in the task, yes or no
WIDE: what does the whole thing look like, three or four words
1 2 3 4 the parts, nouns only, in the order you will say them
Read the task twice and look at the last sentence, because the second instruction is almost always there.
Some prompts end with something like ask him if he would like to try creating something similar, or invite her to come and see it. That is your question, and you must ask it.
Some prompts have no question at all. In that case you do not invent one. More on that below.
One question here. What does the whole thing look like? Not the small parts. The whole thing.
An old piano painted like the inside of an aquarium. A fence decorated to look like a coral reef. Three or four words, and this becomes your first sentence after the greeting.
The rule that matters most: if line 2 is empty, do not start describing. Find the comparison first.
Write the parts you will describe. Nouns only, no sentences. Give each one a number, and put them in the order you will say them.
Choose one direction and follow it. Top to bottom, or left to right. Do not jump around.
Why numbers? Because at about forty seconds many people forget what comes next. Then you look at your numbers and you always know.
Three or four parts is right. Two is thin for sixty seconds. Eight is more than you can describe well.
| Seconds | What you are doing |
|---|---|
| 0 to 8 | Pick up the phone. Their name, and why you are calling |
| 8 to 18 | The wide shot. One sentence, what the whole thing is like |
| 18 to 48 | The close-ups. Three or four parts, each starting with a position word |
| 48 to 55 | The question from the task, only if there is one |
| 55 to 60 | Finish the call |
If the task has no question, give those seven seconds back to the close-ups.
The frame does not work without these. Describing objects in relation to each other is impossible without position words, so learn the words or the method fails.
on top of · underneath · inside · halfway up · near the front · at the back · hanging from · resting on · growing out of · leaning against · in the corner · along the edge
These five are the ones that turn a list into a description, and they are the Level 12 move in practice.
The habit to build: after your first part, every new part starts with one of these five. It is a small change and it does more for your score than any single word you could learn.
| Naming | Describing |
|---|---|
| plants | small green plants coming up between the black and white keys |
| a sign | a little wooden sign hanging on the right side |
| fish | orange fish and pink coral painted across the front panel |
Same object. The second column earns more, and it costs you about four extra words.
Words worth having ready for shape: round, square, curved, flat, narrow, wide. For material: wooden, metal, plastic, glass, painted. For condition: old, worn, bright, faded, brand new, cracked.
This is CELPIP's own published strategy, and it is simpler than people expect. Build the word out of easy words. Say what it looks like and what it does.
Everyone understands you and you keep moving. Stopping costs you. Explaining costs you nothing.
Do not assert it. Hedge it.
It looks like a piano. It seems to be some kind of garden decoration. I think it might be an old door.
Careful guessing is fine and it is rewarded. Confident guessing that turns out wrong is not.
When people are nervous they add detail, because more information feels like more marks. One of the officially rated answers lost marks for including a detail nobody needed.
Describe the things you can describe well and leave the rest. Four parts described properly beats eight parts listed quickly. CELPIP's own strategy list says this directly: focus on what you can describe well.
At first this happened, then I went there, after that…
That is Task 2. Task 8 is happening right now, in front of your eyes, so stay in the present.
❌ First I saw a piano, and then I noticed it had plants in it.
✅ I'm looking at an old piano, and there are plants growing out of the top of it.
Use I'm looking at… I can see… there is… there are…
A lot of advice treats Task 8 as a call for help. It tells you to give your location, give a reference number, and ask somebody to come and fix something.
Look at what the real questions actually ask. Ask him if he would like to try creating something similar. Invite her to come and see it in person. Nobody is asking for help. You are asking a friend for an opinion, and the prompt tells you exactly what to ask.
One of the officially rated answers asks for nothing at all and still scored a 9.
So when there is a question in the task, ask it. When there is not, do not invent one.
The prompt decides, not the template.
The question. You are walking through a community garden and you discover an old piano that has been creatively transformed into a colourful planter. Call your friend Alex, who has been looking for unique decorating ideas for his backyard. Describe in detail what the piano planter looks like, and ask him if he would like to try creating something similar.
The note, written in 30 seconds.
ask? Y - try one?
WIDE: piano = aquarium + plant pot
1 top - ferns
2 keys - plants between
3 front - fish, coral, starfish
4 right - sign "Play Me a Garden"
The answer, 137 words, just under 60 seconds.
Hey Alex, it's me. I'm in the community garden on the corner, and I think I've found the decorating idea you've been looking for.
It's an old upright piano, and somebody has painted the whole thing like the inside of an aquarium and turned it into a giant plant pot.
Along the top, where the lid is, there are ferns growing straight out of it. Just below that, the keys are still there, and small green plants are coming up between the black and white keys. The front panel underneath is painted with orange fish and pink coral, and there's a starfish near the corner. And hanging on the right side there's a little wooden sign that says, Play Me a Garden.
Do you want to try making one for your backyard?
Let me know. Talk soon.
Look at how each part starts. Along the top. Just below that. Underneath. Hanging on the right side. A position word every time, which is why Alex can picture it.
Line 2 of my note is not empty. I have the wide shot.
My parts are numbered and in one direction.
I know whether the task contains a question.
Wide shot first, in one sentence
Every part after the first starts with a position word
Present tense throughout
I describe, I do not only name
I ask the question the task asked, and nothing more
1. The wide shot drill (2 min). Look at something near you right now. Give the wide shot in one sentence, using a comparison. Then do it for three more things. This is the hardest part of the task and it is the fastest to train.
2. The connecting phrase drill (5 min). Describe any photograph on your phone in four sentences. Each sentence after the first must begin with one of the five connecting phrases. Record it and listen back.
3. Two real questions (10 min). Take one Task 8 question that ends with an instruction and one that does not. Practise deciding which is which before you speak, because that decision changes your last twelve seconds.
Related: Vocabulary for Speaking for building words you do not know · Listenability for pace and pauses · Scoring and Performance Standards for what the four parts measure.