CELPIP® Speaking Task 6 sample: Paper Sheet or Garden App

Level 7 sample answer

129 words

Hi Rémi, can we talk about watering schedule? First, I want to say thank you. Your app is great, and since you started it, people miss much less shifts. So I really don't want to stop it. But I think we need to keep the paper sheet too. Emiko doesn't have a smartphone, and she told me she feels left out. She has been here for twelve years and she knows the garden better than anyone. I don't want her to give up her plot.

I know copying the paper sheet every week is extra work. So I will do it myself, um, every Sunday evening. You don't need to do anything. Maybe after the summer we can check again if it is still working. What do you think?

Why this answer is at level 7

This level 7 answer gives Rémi a clear, considerate request and a workable copying arrangement. Compared with the higher-level answers, its reasoning is less developed, its vocabulary is more general, and some grammatical choices make the wording less natural.

• Emiko doesn't have a smartphone, and she told me she feels left out. — Content/Coherence: This clearly connects Emiko's circumstances to the request to keep paper sign-ups. A higher-level answer would develop the wider consequence for the garden, such as losing experienced members, rather than concentrating mainly on her personal situation.
• First, I want to say thank you. — Vocabulary: The wording establishes a polite tone but uses a general expression of gratitude. A higher-level answer would acknowledge Rémi's contribution with more precise language about improved watering attendance.
• Your app is great, and since you started it, people miss much less shifts. — Listenability: The message is easy to follow, but the wording around missed shifts is grammatically awkward. A higher-level answer would express the improvement more naturally, helping the listener follow the point without being distracted by the phrasing.
• So I will do it myself, um, every Sunday evening. — Task Fulfillment: The coordinator takes responsibility for copying entries and gives a regular time, directly addressing Rémi's workload concern. A higher-level answer would also explain how limited the copying burden is expected to be and set a clearer condition for reviewing the arrangement.

Level 9 sample answer

173 words

Emiko, thanks for telling me how you feel. Honestly, the garden wouldn't be what it is without you, and the last thing I want is for you to give up your plot.

I'd like to explain why we're moving everything to the app. Since Rémi set it up, missed watering shifts have dropped a lot, and in July that can make the difference between healthy tomatoes and wilted ones. Keeping two schedules means someone has to copy everything by hand every week, and mistakes slip through.

But I don't want you to feel left behind. The app also works on a regular computer, so if you have one at home, or even at the library, I'd be happy to sit down with you for half an hour and show you how it works. It can send reminders by email, so you don't need a phone at all. And if that still feels like too much, just call me, and I'll sign you up myself. Would you be willing to give it a try?

Why this answer is at level 9

This level 9 answer combines empathy with garden-specific reasons for using the app and practical help for Emiko. It develops the situation more fully than the level 7 answer, although its support arrangement is less clearly bounded and its persuasion less concise than the level 11 answer.

• Keeping two schedules means someone has to copy everything by hand every week, and mistakes slip through. — Content/Coherence: This connects the duplicate schedules to both extra work and possible errors, giving Emiko a reason to accept the change. A higher-level answer would integrate this explanation into a more compact proposal with a clear review point.
• in July that can make the difference between healthy tomatoes and wilted ones. — Vocabulary: The contrast between healthy and wilted tomatoes makes missed watering shifts concrete and relevant to gardening. A higher-level answer would sustain this precision across the whole response, including the terms of the proposed support.
• But I don't want you to feel left behind. — Listenability: This short transition clearly signals the move from explaining the app's benefits to addressing Emiko's concerns. A higher-level answer would maintain this conversational clarity while tightening the longer explanation of computer access and training.
• And if that still feels like too much, just call me, and I'll sign you up myself. — Task Fulfillment: This fallback lets Emiko keep participating even if computer access or training proves difficult, while preserving the app as the shared schedule. A higher-level answer would make the ongoing support more manageable by establishing when the arrangement will be reviewed.

Level 11 sample answer

185 words

Rémi, have you got a few minutes before you head off? I wanted to talk about the paper sheet. Before anything else, credit where it's due: since you set up the app, we've gone from three or four missed shifts a week to almost none, and the beds have never looked better. So I'm not backing away from it.

That said, I'd like to hold on to the paper sheet, at least for now. Emiko told me she feels shut out, and she's been tending her plot for twelve years. If we lose her, we lose a lot of knowledge that no app can replace. I suspect she's not the only one, either; she's just the one who spoke up.

Here's what I'm suggesting. We'd keep the sheet in the shed for anyone who doesn't use a smartphone, which realistically means four or five people, so copying their entries into the app would take me ten minutes on a Sunday. You wouldn't have to lift a finger. If it turns out to be messier than I'm expecting, we'll revisit it in the fall. Fair enough?

Why this answer is at level 11

This level 11 answer combines tactful acknowledgment, a broader argument about retaining experienced gardeners, and a practical compromise with personal responsibility and a review point. Its controlled transitions and idiomatic language make the request persuasive and conversational, although the added attendance figures are not established by the prompt.

• I suspect she's not the only one, either; she's just the one who spoke up. — Content/Coherence: This broadens the concern from Emiko's individual complaint to possible barriers affecting other members. The phrase expressing suspicion appropriately presents this as an inference, strengthening the reasoning without treating it as an established fact.
• You wouldn't have to lift a finger. — Vocabulary: This natural idiom gives Rémi a direct, memorable reassurance about workload. It serves the negotiation by emphasizing that the coordinator will take responsibility for maintaining the paper option.
• That said, I'd like to hold on to the paper sheet, at least for now. — Listenability: The transition smoothly moves from appreciating the app to requesting a compromise. The temporary wording softens the disagreement, and the sentence gives the listener a clear statement of the proposal.
• If it turns out to be messier than I'm expecting, we'll revisit it in the fall. — Task Fulfillment: This acknowledges that keeping both systems could cause problems and establishes a review point. Together with the coordinator's offer to copy entries, it gives Rémi a practical reason to accept a temporary compromise.