CELPIP Speaking Task 3: Describing a Scene

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 Sample Answer: Young Skiers Around a Snowman

This picture shows a group of children on skis gathered around a small snowman, with a log cabin and snowy forest behind them. The tricky part is that the kids are bundled up and look alike, so jacket colours and small actions like pointing or bending are what make each one clear.

Preparation

30 seconds

Speaking

60 seconds

Picture

A detailed illustration

The question

CELPIP Speaking Task 3 practice picture: Young Skiers Around a Snowman

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 group of children on skis gathered around a small snowman on a snowy hill, with a wooden cabin, snow-covered pine trees and a grey, foggy sky.

Plan (60 sec)

Overview: "A group of about eight kids on skis is standing around a little snowman on a snowy slope."
Left: a girl in a teal jacket with a furry hood points at the snowman.
Middle: a boy in a navy jacket and black toque, a child in light blue with a pom-pom hat, a child in an orange jacket.
Front: a little girl in a pink jacket bends over toward the snowman.
Right: a boy in an orange and grey jacket stands on his skis; behind him is a log cabin with snow on the roof.
Background: a wide open slope with tiny skiers far away, thick evergreen forest, and a grey, misty sky.

Useful vocabulary

toque, snowsuit, skis, snowman
log cabin, evergreens, overcast, slope

Phrases

"Standing in a circle around..."
"Bending down to..."
"Way off in the distance,..."

Avoid

Calling it "people playing in snow"; they're kids on skis around a snowman.
Describing all eight kids the same way; use jacket colours to tell them apart.

Excellent answer (transcript): around CLB 11–12

What I see is a group of about eight young children, all on skis, gathered in a circle around a little snowman on a wide, snowy slope. On the far left, a girl in a teal jacket with a fur-trimmed hood is pointing at the snowman, as if she's giving instructions. Beside her, a boy in a navy jacket and a black toque is looking on. In front, a little girl in a bright pink jacket is bending forward, probably patting the snow into shape, while kids in orange, black and dark green jackets stand around her. On the right, a boy in an orange and grey jacket with a pom-pom toque is balancing on his skis. Just behind him, there's a log cabin with a thick layer of snow on its roof. Further up the hill, you can make out tiny skiers, and the whole area is framed by snow-covered evergreens under a heavy, misty sky.

157 words

Why it scores high

Content/Coherence: Small interpretations like "as if she's giving instructions" and "probably patting the snow into shape" bring the children's actions to life.
Vocabulary: Words such as "toque," "fur-trimmed hood," "balancing on his skis" and "snow-covered evergreens" are precise and fit the Canadian winter scene.
Listenability: Signposts like "On the far left," "Beside her," "Just behind him" and "Further up the hill" lead the listener smoothly across the picture.

Good answer (transcript): around CLB 7–8

This picture shows a group of kids on skis standing around a small snowman on a snowy hill. On the left, a girl in a teal jacket with a furry hood is pointing at the snowman. Next to her, there's a boy in a navy jacket and a black hat. In the middle, a little girl in a pink jacket is bending over, maybe to fix the snowman, and a few other kids in orange, black and light blue jackets are watching. On the right, there's a boy in an orange and grey jacket, and behind him there's a small wooden cabin with snow on the roof. In the background, there are lots of snowy pine trees, and the sky is grey and foggy.

124 words

What works, and what's missing

Content/Coherence: Grouping the background kids as "a few other kids in orange, black and light blue jackets" keeps the answer moving without listing every child.
Vocabulary: "maybe to fix the snowman" offers a sensible guess about the action, and "furry hood" and "teal" are precise details.
Task Fulfillment: The open slope with tiny skiers further up is missing, so the listener doesn't learn that this is a ski hill.

Basic answer (transcript): around CLB 4–5

In this picture there is many children in the snow. They are wearing skis and they stand around a small snowman. On the left one girl have green jacket and she point to the snowman. One small girl with pink jacket is bend down. On the right one boy have orange jacket. There is a wood house with snow on the roof. Behind there is many pine tree with snow. The sky is grey and it look cold.

78 words

What holds it back

Vocabulary: "one girl have," "she point," "is bend down" and "many pine tree" show repeated verb and plural errors, and "wood house" replaces 'cabin.'
Content/Coherence: The answer never says how many children there are or mentions the open slope and distant skiers, so the setting stays vague.
Listenability: Several sentences start with "One" or "There is," and almost none are joined with linking words, so the description sounds like a list.

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