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CELPIP Speaking Course · Lesson 9 of 10

Fluency, Pronunciation and Pauses

By CELPass Editorial Team · 2 min read · Updated

Listenability is the dimension most people worry about and the one most affected by nerves. You cannot change your accent in a few weeks, but you can change the habits that make speech hard to follow.

Pace and pauses

Speak at a steady, slightly slower pace than in conversation. Short pauses between ideas are natural and help the listener; long pauses in the middle of sentences are what hurt. Fill thinking time with a short phrase ("what I mean is", "the thing is") rather than "umm" for several seconds.

Clear words and stress

  • Finish your word endings, especially -s, -ed and -t, which carry grammar.
  • Stress the important word in each phrase: "It's FAR cheaper."
  • Keep your voice up to the end of the sentence; many people trail off.
  • Correct an error once and move on. Repeated self-correction breaks the flow.

A 10-minute daily routine

  1. Record one task with the real timers.
  2. Listen back once and write down the longest pause and one unclear word.
  3. Record the same task again, fixing those two things.
  4. Compare the recordings. Over a week, your pauses should get shorter.

Key points

  • Steady pace, short pauses between ideas, not inside sentences.
  • Finish word endings and keep your voice up.
  • Correct once, then keep going.
  • Record, review one issue, record again.

Exercise

Mark the word you would stress in each sentence.

  1. "The second apartment is much bigger."
  2. "I didn't say you were wrong." (meaning: someone else said it)
  3. "We should leave at seven, not eight."
Show answers
  1. much (or bigger)
  2. I
  3. seven

Practise with free questions

Free questions in the CELPIP format, with answers and no account needed. Try a few now, while the lesson is fresh.

All lessons in this course

  1. How CELPIP Speaking Is Scored
  2. Planning Your Answer in 30 Seconds
  3. One Answer Structure for Every Task
  4. Tasks 1 and 2: Giving Advice and Telling a Story
  5. Tasks 3, 4 and 8: Describing Pictures and Making Predictions
  6. Task 5: Comparing and Persuading
  7. Task 6: Dealing with a Difficult Situation
  8. Task 7: Expressing and Supporting Your Opinion
  9. Fluency, Pronunciation and Pauses
  10. Common Speaking Mistakes and Your Test-Day Routine

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