CELPIP® Speaking Task 5 sample: Signing Up for a Winter Hobby Class

Comparing and Persuading · Choose: 60 seconds · Preparation: 60 seconds · Response: 60 seconds · Published 23 October 2026

Original practice questions in CELPIP® task formats, created independently by CELPIP Study.

Practice question

You live in North Bay and want to take a class this winter, partly to learn a new hobby and partly to get out of the house during the long, cold months. You can spend up to $300, you're busy most Saturdays, and you'd like to make something you can actually use or give as a gift. Read about the two classes and choose the one you'd sign up for.

Beginner Pottery Course

A small pottery studio with eight wheels arranged in a circle. Adult students are shaping wet clay while an instructor leans over to help one of them, and shelves of drying bowls and mugs line the back wall.

$280 for 8 weeks; clay and firing included
Wednesdays 7–9 p.m., 20-minute drive
Take home the bowls and mugs you make
Small class: 8 students

Intro to Woodworking

A large woodworking shop with workbenches, clamps and power tools. Adult students in safety glasses are sanding boards while an instructor demonstrates at the front, and a finished small bookshelf and cutting boards sit on a table.

$240 for 6 weeks, plus about $40 for wood
Saturdays 10 a.m.–1 p.m., 5-minute drive
Build and take home a cutting board and a small bookshelf
Class of 14 students with one instructor

Your friend’s alternative

Winter Photography Workshop

A small group of adults in winter coats standing on a snowy trail at sunset, holding cameras and phones up to photograph a frozen lake while an instructor points toward the trees.

$190 for 6 weeks; bring your own camera or phone
Mondays 6:30–8 p.m., 10-minute drive; plus two Sunday outdoor walks
Learn to shoot and edit winter landscapes and wildlife; photos shown in an online gallery
Class of 12 students

Your friend Yaroslav, who wants to take a class with you, suggests a winter photography workshop instead. He says it's cheaper and gets you outdoors. Persuade him that the class you chose is the better option.

Model answers

These are transcripts of a model response, provided for comparison with your own recording.

The models choose Beginner Pottery Course before responding to the friend’s alternative.

Level 7 sample answer

135 words

Yaroslav, I see why you like the photography workshop. It's cheaper, $190, and the walks outside sound fun. But I want to do the pottery course with you.

First, I really want to make something real. With pottery we take home bowls and mugs, and I can give them to friends as gifts. With photography we just get photos in an online gallery. Um, it's nice, but I can't use them every day.

Also, the pottery class has only 8 students, so the teacher can help us more. Photography has 12. And the outdoor walks are on Sundays in winter, it can be minus twenty, I don't want to stand outside for hours.

Pottery is $280, but clay and firing is included, so no extra cost. It's in my budget. Let's try it together, okay?

Why this answer is at level 7

This level 7 answer makes a clear choice and supports it with relevant points about gifts, class size, winter weather, and cost. Repeated basic wording and loosely connected clauses hold it back from the more fluent, developed persuasion at level 9.

With pottery we take home bowls and mugs, and I can give them to friends as gifts. — Content/Coherence: This directly connects the pottery products to the goal of making useful gifts. The level 9 answer develops that benefit more specifically by imagining birthday presents.
First, I really want to make something real. — Vocabulary: The preference is understandable, but “really” and “real” repeat similar wording without describing the appeal precisely. The higher-level answers express the physical nature of the finished objects more clearly.
And the outdoor walks are on Sundays in winter, it can be minus twenty, I don't want to stand outside for hours. — Listenability: Several complete thoughts run together, making the intended pauses less clear. The higher-level answers organize this objection more smoothly. The reference to hours also assumes a walk duration that the description does not provide.
Pottery is $280, but clay and firing is included, so no extra cost. — Task Fulfillment: This addresses affordability and explains what the pottery fee covers. A higher-level response would also acknowledge Yaroslav's cheaper alternative explicitly and explain why pottery's benefits justify the difference.

Level 9 sample answer

158 words

Yaroslav, I'll give you this: the photography workshop is ninety dollars cheaper, and you're right that we'd probably spend more time outdoors. Still, I think pottery is the better fit, and I'm hoping I can win you over.

For me, the whole point is ending up with something I can hold. By the end of the pottery course, we'd each have a few bowls and mugs, which would make perfect birthday gifts. Photos in an online gallery are nice, but they tend to just sit there.

The class size matters too. With only eight people, the instructor can actually come around and fix our technique, whereas with twelve in a photography group, I suspect we'd get less one-on-one time.

And honestly, those two Sunday walks worry me. In a North Bay January, standing still in the snow to take pictures doesn't sound relaxing. The studio's a twenty-minute drive, but it's warm, and everything's included. What do you say?

Why this answer is at level 9

This level 9 answer builds a persuasive case through a fair opening concession, concrete gift ideas, and clear comparisons. It is more fluent than the level 7 answer, while the level 11 answer adds more personal language, deeper explanation, and a collaborative closing proposal.

With only eight people, the instructor can actually come around and fix our technique, — Content/Coherence: The answer explains why class size matters instead of simply comparing attendance figures. The level 11 answer extends this reasoning by connecting individual correction to progress as beginners.
Yaroslav, I'll give you this: the photography workshop is ninety dollars cheaper, — Vocabulary: The conversational concession acknowledges a genuine advantage and sounds more flexible than the level 7 opening. The level 11 answer adds a more personal touch by imagining Yaroslav encouraging the speaker outdoors.
The studio's a twenty-minute drive, but it's warm, and everything's included. — Listenability: This compact sentence acknowledges the drive and then presents reassuring benefits in an easy-to-follow sequence. The level 11 answer gives the included materials their own explanation, making the value argument more developed.
Still, I think pottery is the better fit, and I'm hoping I can win you over. — Task Fulfillment: The speaker clearly addresses Yaroslav and establishes the purpose of persuading him to choose pottery. The level 11 closing goes further by proposing a compromise that preserves his interest in photography.

Level 11 sample answer

188 words

Yaroslav, I'll concede the photography workshop has a lot going for it. It's ninety dollars cheaper, you can use the phone already in your pocket, and if anyone's going to coax me outside in February, it's probably you. But I'd still rather we signed up for pottery, and here's my reasoning.

What I'm really after this winter is something tangible at the end of it. After eight weeks at the studio, we'd walk away with bowls and mugs we'd actually use, or wrap up for people's birthdays. A gallery of photos, however good, usually ends up buried in a folder nobody opens.

I'd also argue the smaller class is worth paying for. With eight students rather than twelve, the instructor has time to correct each of us at the wheel, which is exactly when beginners improve fastest. And since clay and firing are included, $280 is the real final price, comfortably under budget.

As for the Sunday walks, standing motionless in what could be minus twenty to frame a frozen lake isn't my idea of unwinding. How about this: we do pottery now, and photography in the spring?

Why this answer is at level 11

This level 11 answer combines detailed reasoning with a personal, conversational voice. It acknowledges photography's advantages, explains pottery's value within the budget, and ends with a compromise that gives Yaroslav a reason to agree.

With eight students rather than twelve, the instructor has time to correct each of us at the wheel, — Content/Coherence: The comparison links smaller enrollment to a specific kind of help during pottery practice. The following explanation about beginners improving gives this reason greater depth than the corresponding points in the other answers.
and if anyone's going to coax me outside in February, it's probably you. — Vocabulary: “Coax” precisely suggests friendly encouragement overcoming reluctance. The personal remark also recognizes Yaroslav's enthusiasm, making the concession warmer and more distinctive than a simple acknowledgment of the lower price.
What I'm really after this winter is something tangible at the end of it. — Listenability: The conversational opening leads naturally to the key word “tangible.” On the page, this creates a clear emphasis and an easy transition into the examples of usable bowls and giftable mugs.
How about this: we do pottery now, and photography in the spring? — Task Fulfillment: The closing proposes a shared plan instead of merely repeating the preference. It responds to Yaroslav's interest in photography while giving him a friendly way to accept pottery for winter.

What moves an answer from 7 to 9 to 11

These are model answers written to show each level. The labels are practice estimates, not examiner scores.

Make your chosen option clear and compare it with the friend’s alternative using the stated facts. Explain how those differences meet your needs and persuade the listener respectfully.

Content/Coherence: Level 7 models communicate the main ideas; level 9 models develop relevant details with clear connections; level 11 models sustain precise, well-integrated development.
Vocabulary: Compare adequate everyday wording with more varied, accurate choices at level 9 and flexible, precise expression at level 11.
Listenability: Higher-level delivery needs clear pronunciation, rhythm, intonation and controlled pauses. Transcripts suggest phrasing and organisation, but cannot demonstrate these audio features; a recording is needed.
Task Fulfillment: Compare how fully the response addresses the request, develops enough relevant detail and maintains an appropriate tone for the audience within the task limits.

Assess the criteria together. A longer answer or rarer words alone do not establish a higher level.

Answer this question and get your level