CELPIP Speaking Task 1: Giving Advice

CELPIP Speaking Task 1 Sample Answer: Building a Better Morning Routine

This prompt asks you to help a friend who wants early workouts but keeps hitting snooze and drags through his mornings. The tricky part is giving a realistic step-by-step routine that covers waking up, the gym and his productivity at work.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

90 seconds

Listener

Someone you know well

The question

Your friend Liam in Hamilton wants to go to the gym before his job starts at 8:30, but he keeps pressing the snooze button and ends up rushing out the door with no breakfast. He feels sluggish all morning and gets very little done until lunch. Advise Liam on how he can build a better morning routine and get more done.

How to plan your answer

What they want

Advise your friend Liam, who wants to hit the gym before work but keeps snoozing, skips breakfast and feels sluggish all morning, on building a better morning routine and being more productive.

Plan (90 sec)

Open: "Liam, mornings start the night before."
Night: a regular bedtime; pack your gym bag and lunch the night before.
Alarm: put it across the room; no snooze; move the time 15 minutes earlier each week.
Wake up: open the curtains for daylight, drink water.
Gym: start with two mornings a week, not five.
Breakfast: something fast, like overnight oats.
Work: do the hardest task first, before email.
Close: offer to be his gym buddy.

Useful vocabulary

snooze button, routine, habit, sluggish
productive, gym buddy, step by step, to-do list

Phrases

"The secret is to..."
"Instead of..., try..."
"Start small, maybe..."

Avoid

Saying only "go to bed earlier"; give a morning plan.
An unrealistic routine: 5 a.m. every day from tomorrow.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

Liam, honestly, you're not lazy, you're just trying to change too much at once. Let's make it easier. The real secret is that a good morning starts the night before. Pack your gym bag, leave it by the door, and get your lunch ready. Then, when the alarm rings, there are no decisions left to make. Speaking of the alarm, put your phone on the dresser across the room. Once you're up and the lights are on, the snooze button loses its power. I'd also be realistic about the gym. Instead of five days, commit to two, maybe Tuesday and Thursday, and add more only once it feels normal. For breakfast, make overnight oats in a jar. It takes two minutes in the evening, and you can eat it on the way. Finally, when you get to work, tackle your hardest task before you even look at your inbox. That's when your brain is sharpest. And hey, if you want a gym buddy on Tuesdays, I'm in.

167 words

Why it scores high

Content/Coherence: The idea that "a good morning starts the night before" links every tip, so the routine feels like one plan, not a list.
Vocabulary: Phrases like "no decisions left to make," "loses its power" and "tackle your hardest task" are precise and fluent.
Task Fulfillment: Realistic goals, like committing to two gym days and offering to be a "gym buddy," make the advice easy for Liam to follow.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

Hey Liam, I totally get it. Getting up early for the gym sounds great until the alarm goes off. The first thing I'd do is move your alarm across the room. Once you're standing, it's much harder to crawl back into bed. Next, prepare the night before. Pack your gym bag and your lunch before you go to sleep, so the morning is easier. Also, don't try to work out five days a week right away. Start with two mornings, like Tuesday and Thursday, and add more later. For breakfast, overnight oats are perfect, because you just grab them from the fridge. At work, try doing your most difficult task first, before you open your email. You'll get much more done before lunch.

123 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: Each tip has a reason, like moving the alarm because "it's much harder to crawl back into bed."
Vocabulary: Natural expressions such as "until the alarm goes off" and "grab them from the fridge" fit a casual chat.
Task Fulfillment: The advice covers the gym, breakfast and work, but never mentions bedtime, which is a big reason he feels sluggish.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

Hi Liam, I know mornings is hard. I have same problem. First, put your alarm far from the bed, like on the desk. So you need to stand up to stop it, and you can't press snooze. Also prepare everything at night. Put your gym clothes in bag and make lunch, so in morning you don't rush. Don't go gym every day at first. Maybe two days in a week, it's more easy. For breakfast, you can make oatmeal at night, it is fast. At work, do the most hard work first, when you have energy. I hope it help!

100 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: Errors like "mornings is hard," "I have same problem" and "the most hard work" show agreement, article and comparative mistakes.
Content/Coherence: The tips follow the morning in order, but each is a single line, and "I hope it help" is a weak ending.
Listenability: Phrases such as "Don't go gym" and "in morning" drop small words, so the speech sounds choppy.

The CLBs are estimates of the level each sample was written at, not official CELPIP scores. How we estimate CLB