Giving Advice

Advise one person about a situation. One of only two tasks that give you a full 90 seconds.

How the task works

Time

90 seconds

Counts as

1 task

Preparation

30 seconds

Section

Speaking

A situation is described, someone in it needs advice, and you have thirty seconds to prepare and ninety to speak. It is the first scored speaking task and one of only two that give a full ninety seconds.

The advice is addressed to a person, not to the examiner. Speak to them.

Strategy that works

Give the advice in the first sentence, then spend the rest justifying it.
One piece of advice developed well fills ninety seconds better than three listed quickly.
Use second person throughout: "you could", "if I were you".
Ninety seconds is long. Plan a second reason to reach for at the sixty-second mark.

What costs marks

Describing the situation back instead of advising on it.
Running out at forty seconds and filling the rest with silence.
Hedging so thoroughly that no actual recommendation is made.

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

How long do I get?

90 seconds, after 30 seconds of preparation.

Is anyone listening live?

No. You speak into a headset and the recording is rated later. There is no examiner in the room and no second attempt.

Written by Kirill O'Nayd

English test expert and educator at TestSucceed, where he builds the CELPIP practice tasks and mock tests and has spent years taking apart how Canada's immigration English tests award their points. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.