Ask your friend to read a prompt aloud, run the preparation and speaking timers, and note two things after you answer: what was clear and what was not. CELPIP’s tips page recommends practicing speaking English with friends, family and co-workers, and practicing into a recording device (as of November 4, 2026). Record every round, so that you can listen again on your own.
Why does a live listener matter?
The CELPIP Speaking test is delivered on a computer, with no human examiner, according to the tips page. Your responses are recorded and rated later (CELPIP’s General Overview study pack). Each Speaking performance is rated by three to five raters who are trained, certified as CELPIP raters and independent of one another (CELPIP, test results and scoring). A friend is not one of those raters and cannot give you a level. How CELPIP turns ratings into a level is explained in how CELPIP scoring works.
What a friend does give you is a listener. CELPIP’s Speaking study pack pairs the Listenability dimension with one guiding question, about how easy your response is to listen to and understand. Only a listener can answer that on the spot.
A friend gives you one reaction, and a second reader can add another. Express Prep (expressprep.ca), which offers preparation for the CELPIP test, says in its terms that members of a program with live sessions may submit their Speaking for feedback from its instructors and mentors (terms read November 4, 2026). Self-study or a coach lays out how to decide between these options.
What do you need before you start?
You need a phone or another device that records your voice, two timers or one timer with two settings, the prompts and the feedback sheet below, on paper or on a screen, and a quiet room. Agree before you begin that each of you will take a turn at speaking and a turn at listening. According to the tips page, test takers get a chance to test the recording device before the test begins, and a quick test of your own device is worth the same step: say one sentence and play it back.
How do the roles and timers work?
Three jobs make a round work: one person reads the prompt, one keeps the time, and one listens and takes notes. With one friend, you take turns, and the friend can do the first two jobs together.
CELPIP’s Speaking study pack gives the times to set. Most tasks have 30 seconds of preparation, and Tasks 5 and 6 have 60. Speaking time is 60 seconds, or 90 seconds in Tasks 1 and 7, and Task 5 has a Part 1 with no speaking. In the test, when preparation ends, the screen moves forward and you hear “Start speaking now”; your friend can say those words and start the recording. The times for all eight tasks are in how long to speak in each task.
Which prompts can you use?
Here are eight original practice prompts, one for each task type in the study pack, written for practice with a friend. Tasks 3, 4 and 8 are about a picture, so choose a photo from a magazine or from your phone. Use the same photo for Tasks 3 and 4, so that the prediction in Task 4 builds on the scene you described in Task 3.
| Task | An original practice prompt |
|---|---|
| 1: Giving Advice | A coworker is nervous about presenting at next week’s meeting. Give advice to help them prepare. |
| 2: Talking about a Personal Experience | Tell me about a time when you had to learn something new quickly. What happened? |
| 3: Describing a Scene | Choose a photo of a busy place, such as a market or a station, and describe what is happening. |
| 4: Making Predictions | Look at the same photo again and say what you think will happen next. |
| 5: Comparing and Persuading | You must choose between two apartments: a quiet one far from work or a smaller one close to work. Choose one, then persuade a friend who prefers the other that your choice is better. |
| 6: Dealing with a Difficult Situation | You have decided not to lend your car to a neighbour. Explain your decision politely but firmly. |
| 7: Expressing Opinions | Do you think public libraries should stay open later in the evening? Give your opinion and your reasons. |
| 8: Describing an Unusual Situation | Choose a photo of an unusual object or scene and describe it to a friend on the phone who cannot see it. |
How do you run one round?
One round is one task, one recording and two answers:
- Your friend picks a task and reads the prompt aloud.
- Start the preparation timer and write notes of three or four words per idea, not sentences, while your friend watches the clock.
- When preparation ends, your friend says “Start speaking now” and you begin recording and speaking at your normal volume.
- Speak until the speaking timer ends. Your friend does not interrupt, and writes two lines: one thing that was clear and one that was not.
- Answer the same prompt again straight away, fixing only the point that was not clear.
- Swap roles, so that you also practice listening.
- On your own later, play the first recording, mark each filler word and each restarted sentence, and compare the response with the Performance Standards chart in CELPIP’s Speaking study pack.
Keep a short log: the task, the date and the one thing you decided to fix. After a few rounds, look at which dimension keeps coming back. That is the one to work on first, and it tells you which question to ask your friend to listen for.
What should the feedback sheet ask?
CELPIP’s Speaking study pack pairs each dimension with a guiding question. The sheet below adapts those questions for a friend who listens:
| Dimension | Question for your friend |
|---|---|
| Content/Coherence | Were my ideas organized and developed? What was my main point? |
| Vocabulary | Did my words fit the situation? Did I repeat any word too often? |
| Listenability | Was my answer easy to listen to and understand? Where did you lose the thread? |
| Task Fulfillment | Did I do what the prompt asked, in a tone that suits the person I was talking to? |
Source: questions adapted from the guiding questions in CELPIP’s Speaking study pack, read November 4, 2026.
Ask for two remarks per round, not a full report. Corrections of grammar can wait until you hear the recording again. Your friend does not need to know the test: saying what they understood, what they missed and where they lost the thread is enough.
How do you avoid memorizing a script?
Change the prompt every round, and let your friend invent one from their own life now and then. Keep a skeleton in your notes: your position or story, your reasons and one example, then say the sentences as they come. CELPIP’s tips page asks test takers to use their own words and to avoid repeating the same words. For Tasks 5, 6 and 7, record one response for each option, and practice with more preparation time than the test gives, then shorten it gradually, as the study pack suggests. When single tasks feel steady, how many practice tests to take covers moving on to full sittings.
FAQ
Can I practice alone if I have no friend?
Yes. CELPIP’s tips page suggests practicing into a recording device, and its study pack suggests recording each response and checking it against its Performance Standards chart. Play the recording back as if you were the listener and answer the four questions on the sheet yourself. A second person adds one thing you cannot reproduce alone: a reaction you did not choose.
How often should we practice?
CELPIP’s study pack says it is even more important to spend some time practicing your English speaking every day. That does not require a long session with your friend each day. Use the friend for a round or two, and fill the other days with recorded rounds on your own.
Should my friend correct my grammar?
Not during the round. Ask your friend first what was unclear, because that is the Listenability question. Grammar and sentence structure are on CELPIP’s Listenability list too, but corrections are easier to use when you hear the recording again and can stop it at each one.
How do we practice Task 5 with a friend?
Task 5 has two parts. In Part 1 you read two options and choose one without speaking. In Part 2 you have to persuade someone that your choice is better than the one they propose. Let your friend name the other option and one reason for it, then answer, and repeat the round with the other option.
The bottom line
- Give your friend three jobs: read the prompt, run the preparation and speaking timers, and note what was clear and what was not.
- CELPIP’s tips page recommends practicing speaking with friends, family and co-workers and practicing into a recording device.
- A friend is a listener, not a rater: CELPIP says each Speaking performance is rated by three to five trained raters who work independently.
- Use the four CELPIP dimensions as the feedback sheet, and ask for two remarks per round.
- Change the prompt every round and keep a skeleton, not a script.
Express Prep offers preparation for the CELPIP test, including a 7-day trial of its simulator. The trial becomes a paid monthly subscription unless you cancel before day 7; current price and terms: Express Prep trial page.
Published by Express Prep, which offers preparation for the CELPIP test. Last updated November 4, 2026.