Speaking Task 1 — Giving Advice
CELPIP Speaking Task 1 sample answers — bands 10, 11, 12
30s prep · 90s speak
The prompt
Your friend recently moved to a new city and is feeling lonely because he does not know anyone there. He asks you for advice. Give your friend advice about what he should do.
Try this exact task freeBand 10
A warm, clearly organized answer with three sensible pieces of advice, each supported by a reason. Language is accurate and easy to follow, though the phrasing stays fairly simple.
Transcript
I understand how you feel, because moving to a new city is really difficult in the beginning. I moved three years ago and for the first two months I only talked to my coworkers. My first advice is to join something that meets regularly. Not a one time event, but a weekly class or a sports team or a volunteer group. The reason is simple: you need to see the same people again and again before a friendship starts. If you go to one big party, you meet twenty people and you remember nobody. Second, I think you should say yes to everything for the first few months, even when you are tired. If someone from work invites you for coffee, go. Later you can be more selective, but at the beginning you cannot be. Also, try to find people from your own community, maybe through a community centre or a cultural association. It is easier to talk when you share a language or a background, and those people usually introduce you to others. And please be patient with yourself. Friendship takes time, it does not happen in one week.
Why this is a band 10
A brief personal example gives the advice credibility without taking over the answer.
Specific enough to act on. Naming three concrete options is more useful than telling the friend to get out more.
Gives the reason behind the advice, which turns a suggestion into an argument.
Acknowledges the real obstacle — energy — instead of pretending the advice is effortless.
Clear and correct, but plain. A higher band would find a fresher way to close than a familiar generalization.
Band 11
A well-paced answer with a clear line of reasoning and honest, specific detail. Connectors are natural, examples are concrete, and the closing point reframes the friend's timeline usefully.
Transcript
First of all, what you are feeling is completely normal, and it lasts longer than anyone admits. I moved cities four years ago and it was probably six months before I had anyone I could call on a Sunday. The most useful thing I did was choose activities that repeat. A weekly badminton group, a language exchange, a volunteer shift on the same evening every week. One off events are almost useless for this, because you have a nice conversation, you never see the person again, and you go home feeling worse than before. Familiarity is what turns strangers into friends, and familiarity needs repetition. The second thing is to be the one who suggests. Everyone waits to be invited, and in a new city nobody knows to invite you yet. It feels awkward for about three weeks and then it feels normal. And I would say give it a proper year before you decide the city is unfriendly. Most people give up around month three, which is exactly when things are about to start working.
Why this is a band 11
A specific, human detail that makes the reassurance believable rather than generic.
Three precise examples in one breath. Concrete nouns do more work here than abstract advice would.
States the underlying principle, which ties the whole first piece of advice together.
Advice about behaviour rather than logistics, and it addresses the actual difficulty of being new.
Short, balanced sentence that lands cleanly aloud after a longer explanation.
Ends on a genuinely useful reframe rather than a standard encouragement.
Band 12
A composed, unhurried answer that separates reassurance, practical advice, and a warning about self-assessment, with precise phrasing and controlled pacing throughout. Ideas are weighed rather than simply listed.
Transcript
The first thing I would say is that loneliness after a move is not a sign that anything has gone wrong. It is just what it costs, and it lasts longer than people admit. It took me the better part of a year, and I remember being convinced the city itself was cold. The practical advice is narrower than most people expect: choose things that repeat. Not a networking evening, not a one off meetup, but the same badminton court on the same Thursday with roughly the same people. Friendship is built almost entirely on repeated low effort exposure, and a brilliant conversation with someone you never see again is worth less than three dull ones with someone you see weekly. The harder part is that you will have to do the inviting. Nobody in a new city knows to include you yet, and waiting to be asked can cost you a year. Suggest the coffee, propose the walk, be slightly more forward than feels comfortable. It is uncomfortable for a month, and then it simply is not. And be careful how you read the first winter. Everyone concludes the place is unfriendly at about month three, which is precisely when the groundwork starts paying off.
Why this is a band 12
Reframes the friend's worry before giving advice, so the advice lands on someone less anxious.
Compact, evocative phrasing that conveys the experience without overstating it.
States the principle in a single clause, then immediately illustrates it with a comparison.
A balanced comparison that carries the argument. Structures like this are hard to produce spontaneously.
Calibrated advice — it tells the friend how much, not just what, which is unusually precise.
A short sentence with a deliberate stress at the end, giving the listener a beat to absorb the point.
Closes by warning against a specific misreading of the situation, rather than with generic encouragement.
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