CELPIP Speaking Task 2: Personal Experience
Tell one real or realistic story in 60 seconds. Record it below with the exam timer, then compare it with level 7, 9 and 10 answers.
Task 2 · Talking about a Personal Experience
A time you helped someone
Talk about a time when you helped someone you did not know well. What happened, and how did you feel afterward?
Quick tips for this task
- Set the scene fast: when, where, who.
- Keep past tenses consistent as you move through events.
- End with how you felt or what you learned.
Ready
- Prep
- 0:30
- Speak
- 1:00
Your browser will ask for the microphone. Recordings are scored, then discarded — never stored.
In CELPIP Speaking Task 2 (Talking about a Personal Experience), you get 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak about something that happened to you. Strong answers pick one specific event, set the scene quickly, tell it in a clear past-tense sequence and end with how it turned out or what you learned.
How long do you get for CELPIP Speaking Task 2?
30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak. Sixty seconds is about 130–150 words at a natural pace — enough for one story told well, not three stories told quickly. Spend the preparation time choosing the event and the ending; the middle will follow.
- 0:30Prep
- 1:00Speak
How should you structure a Task 2 story?
The prompt usually asks what happened and how you felt or what you learned. Answer both. The order below keeps a 60-second story easy to follow.
Set the scene in one sentence (about 8 s)
When, where and who: “Two winters ago, on my way home from work in Calgary…”
The problem or turning point (about 15 s)
What made this moment different? A choice, a surprise, a mistake.
What you did, step by step (about 25 s)
Two or three actions in order, with time words: first, then, by the time, eventually.
The result and what it meant (about 12 s)
How it turned out and how you felt — or what you would do differently now.
It doesn’t have to be dramatic
An ordinary story told clearly scores better than an exciting one told in a rush. If nothing comes to mind, a realistic invented story is fine — raters score how you speak, not whether it happened.
Task 2 practice prompts
Original practice prompts, not real or recalled test questions. Choose one to load it into the recorder.
Prompt 1
A time you helped someone
Talk about a time when you helped someone you did not know well. What happened, and how did you feel afterward?
Prompt 2
Plans that changed at the last minute
Describe a time when your plans changed suddenly. What happened, what did you do, and how did it turn out?
Prompt 3
Learning something new
Talk about a time you learned a new skill as an adult. Why did you decide to learn it, and what was the most difficult part?
Prompt 4
A neighbour who made a difference
Talk about a time when a neighbour or someone in your community helped you. What did they do, and why was it important to you?
Prompt 5
Losing something important
Describe a time when you lost something important, such as keys, a wallet or a document. What happened, and how did you solve the problem?
Prompt 6
A difficult decision
Talk about a difficult decision you had to make. What were your choices, what did you decide, and do you think it was the right decision?
What do level 7, 9 and 10 answers to the same prompt sound like?
Three original answers to Prompt 1 (a time you helped someone you didn’t know well). Levels are editorial estimates for teaching, not official scores.
One time I helped a woman at the bus stop. It was winter and very cold. She had a lot of bags and she dropped one, and the oranges went everywhere on the road. I helped her to pick up the oranges and I carried her bags to the bus. She was very happy and she said thank you many times. I felt good because I helped someone. I think it is important to help people, especially old people. After this day I always try to help people when I see they have a problem.
A complete story with a clear ending, but simple sentences, repeated words (“help”, “bags”) and little detail about the moment itself.
Last January, I was waiting for the bus after work when an older woman next to me slipped on the ice and dropped her grocery bags. Oranges rolled all over the sidewalk, and the bus was already pulling in. I told her not to worry, picked everything up as fast as I could and carried her bags onto the bus. It turned out she lived two stops after mine, so I rode a little further and helped her to her door. She insisted on giving me an orange, which made us both laugh. I remember feeling surprisingly happy for the rest of the evening — it was a small thing, but it reminded me how much a minute of help can matter.
Specific setting, a clear sequence (when, already, it turned out) and a reflective ending that answers “how did you feel”.
The one that comes to mind happened last January, at a bus stop outside my office. An older woman beside me lost her footing on a patch of ice, and her grocery bags burst open — oranges everywhere, and the bus already pulling up. Without really thinking, I asked the driver to give us a moment, gathered what I could and helped her on board. Once we were sitting down, she explained that she’d just moved in with her daughter and was still learning the neighbourhood, so I stayed on past my stop and walked her to the door. What struck me afterwards was how little it had cost me — maybe twenty minutes — and how grateful she was. It’s made me much quicker to offer help, even to people I’ll probably never see again.
Natural, idiomatic phrasing (“lost her footing”, “what struck me”), varied structures and a mature reflection, all within 60 seconds.
Common mistakes in Task 2
- Mixing tenses. Jumping between present and past makes the sequence hard to follow. Stay in the past and use time markers.
- Talking in general. “I often help people” isn’t a story. Pick one day and one event.
- A long introduction. Twenty seconds of background leaves no time for what happened.
- Forgetting the second question. If the prompt asks how you felt or what you learned, say it clearly at the end.
- Running out mid-story. Plan your ending during preparation so you can jump to it when time is short.
What does the AI feedback check in Task 2?
Your report estimates a level range on the four CELPIP criteria with quotes from your answer as evidence. For Task 2 it checks whether you set the scene, told events in order, used past tenses consistently and answered every part of the prompt, and it marks long pauses and fillers on a timed transcript.
Estimates are practice feedback, not official scores — see how we calibrate. Already recorded an answer? Upload it to the speaking checker.
Questions people ask
Does my Task 2 story have to be true?
How much should I say in 60 seconds?
Which tense should I use for Task 2?
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Unofficial practice and estimates — not affiliated with Paragon or IRCC, and not legal advice. Read the disclaimer