Describing a Scene

How the task works

You are shown a picture and describe it to someone who cannot see it. Thirty seconds to prepare, sixty to speak.

This task and the next one use the same picture, so what you say here sets up Task 4.

Strategy that works

• Work outward: the overall setting first, then the main figures, then the detail at the edges.
• Position language is the whole task — in the foreground, to the left of, behind, just beyond.
• Use the present continuous for what people are doing.
• Do not interpret or predict yet. That is Task 4’s job.

What costs marks

• Listing objects without saying where they are in relation to each other.
• Speculating about what will happen, and leaving Task 4 with nothing to say.
• Describing only the centre of the picture.

Practise it

Worked examples of this task, with answers and explanations, are on the CELPIP speaking samples page. The rest of the section is set out on the CELPIP speaking description page.

Common questions