CELPIP Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 Sample Answer: Café Tables Beside Rain-Streaked Windows

This picture shows customers sitting with paper cups in a warmly lit café while rain streaks down the large windows. The tricky part is that the two main people face away from you, so you must describe them by hair, clothing and what's on the table rather than their expressions.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

A detailed illustration

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice picture: Café Tables Beside Rain-Streaked Windows

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 dimly lit café on a rainy day: two women at a wooden table in front, other customers at tables behind them, paper coffee cups, and raindrops on the big windows.

Plan (60 sec)

Overview: "This is a cozy café with warm lights, and it's raining outside."
Foreground left: a woman with long brown hair in a grey striped sweater sits with two paper cups in front of her.
Foreground right: a woman with a blonde ponytail in a cream shirt, one cup with a lid; both have their backs to us.
Middle: a man in a cap and grey jacket, a woman in black, a man with glasses in a dark jacket, all at tables.
Windows: tall glass with raindrops and blurry lights outside.
Details: a hanging lamp and a plant on the left, wooden chairs.

Useful vocabulary

café, takeout cups, dim lighting, cozy
raindrops, ponytail, pendant lamp, chatting

Phrases

"With their backs to us,..."
"Through the window, you can see..."
"The atmosphere seems..."

Avoid

Guessing what people are saying; describe where they sit and what's in front of them.
Forgetting the rain; it's the key detail in the windows.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

This is a warm, dimly lit café, and judging by the windows, it's pouring rain outside. In the foreground, two women are sitting at a wooden table with their backs to us. The one on the left has long brown hair and a grey striped sweater, and she's leaning on the table with two paper cups in front of her. Across from her, a woman with a blonde ponytail and a cream shirt has a single takeout cup with a lid. They seem to be gazing toward the other customers. Further back, the café is fairly full: there's a man in a baseball cap and a grey hoodie, a woman dressed in black, and a man with glasses in a dark jacket, all seated at tables. The whole right side is taken up by tall windows streaked with raindrops, with blurry lights glowing outside. In the top left corner, a pendant lamp gives off a soft golden light, and there's a leafy plant beside it.

165 words

Why it scores high

Content/Coherence: "judging by the windows, it's pouring rain outside" links the weather to visible evidence, and the answer covers front, back, windows and lighting.
Vocabulary: Phrases like "dimly lit," "streaked with raindrops," "blurry lights glowing" and "pendant lamp" create a clear sense of atmosphere.
Listenability: Transitions such as "Across from her," "Further back" and "The whole right side" guide the listener smoothly through the café.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

This picture shows a cozy coffee shop on a rainy day. In the front, two women are sitting at a wooden table with their backs to us. The woman on the left has long brown hair and is wearing a grey striped sweater, and there are two paper coffee cups in front of her. The woman on the right has a blonde ponytail and a cream-coloured shirt, and she has one cup with a lid. Behind them, other customers are sitting at tables, including a man in a baseball cap and a man with glasses. On the right, there are big windows covered with raindrops. There's also a hanging lamp in the top left corner, giving off a warm light.

120 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: Saying both women have "their backs to us" early on helps the listener picture the camera angle before the details.
Vocabulary: Precise words like "blonde ponytail," "cream-coloured shirt" and "covered with raindrops" describe the scene accurately.
Task Fulfillment: The background people are named but not placed or described much; adding what they're wearing or doing would balance the front and back of the picture.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

This picture is inside a coffee shop. It is little bit dark but the lights is warm. In front there is two women sitting at the wood table. One woman have long hair and grey sweater, and she have two cups. Other woman have blonde hair and white shirt. Behind them there is more people sitting, one man with hat and one man with glasses. The windows is big and there is rain on the glass. I think it is cold day.

82 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: "the lights is," "there is two women," "she have two cups" and "wood table" show steady agreement and word-form errors.
Content/Coherence: The background customers get only "one man with hat and one man with glasses," and the lamp and blurry lights outside are left out.
Listenability: Ending on "I think it is cold day" adds a guess rather than a visible detail, and few linking words connect the sentences.

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