CELPIP Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 Sample Answer: Toddlers Chasing a Ball in the Park

This picture shows toddlers chasing a ball on the grass at a park playground while parents watch from benches behind them. The tricky part is describing several small children at once, so you need clear positions and actions like crouching, stepping and hurrying.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

A detailed illustration

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice picture: Toddlers Chasing a Ball in the Park

Describe some things that are happening in the picture below as well as you can. The person with whom you are speaking cannot see the picture.

How to plan your answer

What they want

Describe a park playground on a sunny day: little kids chasing a ball on the grass in front, a colourful swing set, a climbing structure with a slide, and parents sitting and standing behind them.

Plan (60 sec)

Overview: "It's a sunny day at a park playground, full of kids and parents."
Foreground: toddlers around a red and yellow ball: a boy in a yellow T-shirt, a boy in a grey T-shirt with red shoes, two little girls crouching on the grass.
Right: a boy in a navy cap walks toward the ball.
Middle: a swing set with a red, yellow, blue and green frame and blue swings; two kids stand by the swings on the left.
Background: parents sit on benches and stand around watching; a climbing structure with a red slide.
Edges: a girl in a pink top; a boy holding a basketball; tall trees.

Useful vocabulary

toddlers, swing set, slide, climbing structure / play structure
crouch, barefoot, keep an eye on, picnic table

Phrases

"In the foreground,..."
"Behind the kids,..."
"Most of the adults are..."

Avoid

Saying only "children are playing"; say who is chasing, crouching or walking.
Forgetting the adults; there's a whole row of them watching.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

This is a lively park playground on a sunny afternoon, and it's full of families. In the foreground, a bunch of toddlers are gathered around a red and yellow ball on the grass. A little boy in a yellow T-shirt is stepping toward it, holding hands with a boy in a grey T-shirt and red shoes, while two little girls are crouched down on either side, barefoot and ready to grab it. On the right, a boy in a navy cap is hurrying over to join in. Behind them stands a swing set with a frame painted red, yellow, blue and green, and a couple of kids are waiting by the blue swings on the left. In the background, a row of parents is sitting on benches and standing around, keeping an eye on everyone. Further back, there's a colourful climbing structure with a red slide, and a girl in a pink top is walking past it.

157 words

Why it scores high

Content/Coherence: Specific observations such as "holding hands" and "barefoot and ready to grab it" make the children's game easy to picture.
Vocabulary: Natural expressions like "a bunch of toddlers," "hurrying over to join in" and "keeping an eye on everyone" sound fluent and relaxed.
Listenability: "In the foreground," "Behind them stands," "In the background" and "Further back" create a steady front-to-back flow.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

This picture shows a busy playground in a park on a sunny day. In the front, a group of little kids is playing with a red and yellow ball on the grass. A boy in a yellow T-shirt and a boy in a grey T-shirt are walking toward it, and two little girls are crouching down nearby. On the right, a boy in a navy cap is coming over to join them. Behind them, there's a swing set with a colourful frame and blue swings. In the background, a lot of parents are sitting on benches or standing around and watching the children. There's also a climbing structure with a red slide, and there are tall trees all around.

119 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: The answer moves clearly from the ball game to the swings, the parents and the play structure, covering front, middle and back.
Vocabulary: Words like "crouching down," "swing set" and "climbing structure" are accurate and natural for a playground.
Task Fulfillment: The two boys are described only by shirt colour; noticing that they're holding hands would add a memorable, visible detail.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

This picture is a playground in the park. In the front many small kids is playing with a ball, the ball is red and yellow. One boy have yellow t-shirt and one boy have grey t-shirt. Two girl is sitting down near the ball. There is a swing and the color is red, yellow, blue and green. Behind the kids many parents is sitting and watching. There is also a slide. It is sunny and there is many trees.

79 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: "many small kids is playing," "one boy have," "two girl is" and "many parents is" show plural and agreement errors throughout.
Content/Coherence: The boy in the cap, the climbing structure and where the slide is are not explained, so the background stays vague.
Listenability: "playing with a ball, the ball is red and yellow" is a comma splice, and many sentences repeat "There is."

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