CELPIP Speaking Task 8, Describing an Unusual Situation: how to describe an object you cannot name

Task 8 is the last thing you do in CELPIP Speaking, and it asks for something unusual: describe a thing you cannot name, to someone who cannot see it, and then ask for something. The words are everyday words. The skill is describing around the gap.

What does CELPIP Speaking Task 8 ask you to do?

You see a picture of an unusual object or situation and a prompt that sets a scene, such as a message to a neighbour or a call to a family member. You describe it clearly and make the request the prompt asks for. CELPIP's Speaking Pro study pack describes the task as describing a picture of an unusual item or situation to someone who cannot see it, framed as a phone call. You get 30 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to record.

Speaking has eight tasks in about 15 minutes. All are recorded replies to on-screen prompts, there is no examiner, and on the official test the screen moves on when the clock ends. Task 8 is the last, so you finish Speaking when this recording ends.

Timings checked 16 October 2026 against the Speaking Pro study pack. The eight-task, 15-minute format is in the CELPIP Guidebook for Test Takers, July 2026.

What do raters look for in an unusual-situation answer?

CELPIP's performance standards use the same four dimensions for every Speaking task. This is our reading of how they apply here, not CELPIP's wording.

• Content/Coherence. The number and quality of ideas, organisation, and supporting details. For an object, the ideas are its features, and the organisation is the order in which you build it up.
• Vocabulary. Word choice, range and precision. This task rewards shape words, material words and comparison language: "rectangular", "curved", "metal", "about the size of", "shaped like".
• Listenability. Rhythm, pronunciation and intonation; pauses, interjections and self-correction; grammar and sentence structure. Long pauses while you search for a noun are the main risk.
• Task Fulfillment. Relevance, completeness, tone and length. Completeness here includes the request. An accurate description that never asks the question is incomplete.

For the full criteria, see how CELPIP-General is scored.

How do you use the 30 seconds of preparation?

Use the time to choose an order, not to find the name of the object.

1. Seconds 0 to 6: read the setup and the request. Who are you speaking to, and what do you need from them? Write the request in two or three words.
2. Seconds 6 to 20: scan the object once, in a fixed order. Overall shape, size, colour or material, main parts, then anything odd. Note one word for each.
3. Seconds 20 to 26: find one comparison. Something familiar the object is shaped like or sized like. This is your best tool against a missing noun.
4. Seconds 26 to 30: say your first sentence silently. Opening with the situation gets you speaking without needing to name the object yet.

Do not try to identify the object. If you guess and are wrong, the description that follows sounds confused. Describe what you see.

How do you structure a 60-second description?

This is ScoreFluent's own technique, with approximate timings.

• Situation, about 8 seconds. Say who you are speaking to and why. "Hi, it's me. I'm in a hardware store and I've found something strange."
• Overall and size, about 10 seconds. Category if you know it, otherwise shape and size. "It's about the size of a shoebox."
• Parts and positions, about 22 seconds. Colour, material and each main part with where it is. "On the front there are two round dials… below them, a short metal pipe."
• Honest uncertainty, about 5 seconds. "I don't actually know what it's for. It might be a tool for cleaning."
• Request, about 15 seconds. Ask clearly for what the prompt wants, and give a reason or a next step.

Leave a clear 12 to 15 seconds for the request. Candidates who spend 55 seconds describing run out of time to ask, and the task is not complete without it.

Worked example

The object below is imaginary. We made it up so you can see the order working without reproducing a real exam image.

Hi, it's me. I'm in a hardware store and I've found something strange that I'd like to describe to you before I decide whether to buy it. It's about the size of a shoebox, and it's made of dark metal with a wooden handle on top, a bit like a small suitcase. On the front there are two round dials, one red and one white, and below them there's a short metal pipe pointing downward, like a tap. On one side there's a thin hose coiled up and clipped to the body. I don't actually know what it's for. Maybe it's a tool for cleaning, or something for the garden. It costs about forty dollars. Could you look online and tell me if you recognise it? If it looks useful, I'll buy it.

This sample was written by ScoreFluent for this guide, describes an imaginary object, and is not an official CELPIP model answer. It has not been scored. Notice the comparisons ("like a small suitcase", "like a tap"), the honest "I don't actually know what it's for", and the last two sentences, which are the request and a reason for it.

What mistakes make Task 8 answers weaker?

• Forgetting the request. These prompts end with something to ask. If you describe for the full minute and stop, the task is incomplete.
• Naming the object wrongly and committing to it. If you decide it is a lamp and it is not, the rest of your description contradicts the picture. Describe first, guess lightly.
• Pausing for the exact word. A long silence costs Listenability. Describe around the gap: its shape, size and what it seems to do.
• Describing in random order. Jumping from colour to a part to the size loses a listener who cannot see the object. Use the same order every time.
• Colour and nothing else. "It's black and orange" is a start. Shape, size and parts are what let someone picture it.
• Ignoring the scene. The prompt sets up who you are speaking to. Greeting them, and using a suitable tone for a neighbour, a landlord or a clerk, belongs to Task Fulfillment.

What do Task 8 practice items look like?

These are practice items from the ScoreFluent bank. They are not real exam questions. In ScoreFluent the picture itself is shown with each item. Question images are not public files, so this page gives the bank's situation text and its own one-line text summary of the picture. They are listed from easier to harder on the bank's difficulty rating.

Item 1. You found this device at the end of a table in a laundromat, and you are leaving a message with the attendant.

Picture summary: A white frame with clothes pegs and a green handle.

Task: Describe the unusual device clearly and ask the attendant to keep it safe until the owner calls.

Item 2. You found this item in a library reading room, and you are leaving a message with the library's lost-and-found desk.

Picture summary: A wooden stand with a flat ledge and a curved metal arm.

Task: Describe the unusual item clearly and ask the staff how the owner can collect it.

Item 3. You found this tool leaning against the fence between your yard and your neighbour's, and you are leaving a voicemail for your neighbour.

Picture summary: A long pole with a wire basket and a rubber grip.

Task: Describe the unusual tool clearly and ask your neighbour whether it belongs to them.

Item 4. You found this object in the snow bank beside the sidewalk in front of your house, and you are leaving a message for your landlord.

Picture summary: A black funnel with a crank and a long orange handle.

Task: Describe the unusual object clearly and ask your landlord whether it is part of the snow-clearing equipment.

Item 5. You found this device attached to a borrowed bicycle and need to describe it to the owner.

Picture summary: A hand-cranked charger attached to bicycle handlebars.

Task: Describe the unusual object clearly and ask what you should do with it.

The bank does not include model answers for these items. Because each summary is a single line, use it as a starting point. Add the overall shape, size and parts you would expect, say what you would ask, and then check your description against the real picture in the app.

How do you practise Task 8?

1. Describe household objects blind. Pick an everyday object you rarely look at, such as a garlic press or a tape dispenser, look for 30 seconds, then describe it for 60 without naming it.
2. Use a listener. Ask a friend to sketch what you describe. The sketch shows which parts you left out.
3. Comparison phrases. Practise "about the size of", "shaped like", "a bit like" and "similar to", and use two in each answer.
4. Protect the request. Set a rule that the request must begin before the 45-second mark.

On ScoreFluent you can record Task 8 against the real timings and get a practice estimate on the four published dimensions. That estimate is provisional: the CELPIP speaking grader has not been calibrated against human-rated CELPIP responses, so use it to see what to fix, not as a level you will receive. New accounts get 40 free credits, credits never expire, and there is no subscription. Start with 40 free credits →

Build the description skill first with Task 3, Describing a Scene, and practise ending on a request with Task 6, Dealing with a Difficult Situation. The whole section is covered in CELPIP Speaking, and the exam overview is on the CELPIP-General hub.

Where do these timings and criteria come from?

The task name and the 15-minute, eight-task Speaking format come from the CELPIP Guidebook for Test Takers, July 2026. The 30-second preparation, 60-second recording, the phone-call format and the move-on rule come from the Speaking Pro study pack. The four Speaking dimensions are from CELPIP's performance standards. Checked 16 October 2026. Exam details change, so confirm against the official pages before you rely on a number.

ScoreFluent is an independent practice platform. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to Paragon Testing Enterprises or CELPIP.