CELPIP Speaking Task 6 Template: Dealing with a Difficult Situation

Task 6 hands you an awkward situation and two people you could speak to. You get 60 seconds to prepare and 60 seconds to speak. Apart from Task 5, it's the only Speaking task that makes you choose between two options before you open your mouth, and how clearly you follow through on that choice is scored.

Use this as a shape to fill, not a script to memorize. Raters score Content/Coherence, Vocabulary, Listenability, and Task Fulfillment; a memorized speech that ignores the specific situation loses on all four.

The five-part structure

That is 60 seconds with nothing left over. If you are still describing the problem at the 35-second mark, you will run out of time before you ask for anything — and an answer with no ask is an incomplete answer.

Step 1 — Pick one person and say so out loud

The prompt gives you two options. Pick either one; there is no correct choice. What is scored is whether the rater can tell within your first sentence which one you chose, and whether the rest of your answer stays consistent with it.

Hi [name], do you have a minute? I wanted to talk to you about [the situation].

Applied:

Hi Daniel, do you have a second before you head out? I wanted to talk about the closing shifts.

Use your prep time on this first: choose in the opening five seconds, then spend the rest planning what you will actually say to that person. Switching audiences halfway through — starting with your coworker and drifting into explaining things to a manager — reads as an unplanned answer.

Step 2 — Name the problem with real detail

Describe impact, not blame. "You keep doing this" is a complaint; "this has meant I close alone three times" is a problem the listener can act on.

Over the past [timeframe], [what has been happening], and it has meant that [concrete effect on you].

Vague grievances lose Content/Coherence marks. Times, counts, and dates earn them, and they also give you something to say for a full fifteen seconds without repeating yourself.

Step 3 — Grant the other side one line

This single sentence is one of the clearest differences between answers typical of CELPIP level 9+ responses and weaker ones. It shows you can hold another person in mind while raising something uncomfortable.

I completely understand that [their likely reason or constraint], and I know this probably isn't deliberate.

Say it before your proposal, not after. Placed first, it makes the request that follows sound reasonable; placed last, it sounds like an apology for having asked.

Step 4 — Propose something specific

Apologizing is not a solution. Sympathizing is not a solution. Task Fulfillment needs a concrete, doable action that a real person could agree to on the spot.

I was wondering whether [specific proposal]. Would it be possible to [action] — or if that doesn't work, we could [alternative]?

Applied:

I was wondering whether we could split the late closes evenly across the week. Would it be possible for you to take Thursdays and Sundays — or if those don't work, we could just swap whenever one of us has something on?

Offering a second option is a small move that pays off twice: it sounds cooperative rather than demanding, and it fills time naturally if your first proposal came out shorter than planned.

Step 5 — Match the tone to the relationship

The two people in the prompt rarely deserve the same register. A friend, a roommate, or a coworker you know well gets contractions and casual openers. A landlord, a supervisor, or a customer service representative gets fuller sentences and more distance.

Whichever you choose, keep the softeners in. "I completely understand that...", "I was wondering whether...", and "would it be possible" carry a request without an accusation, and they sound like real spoken English rather than a rehearsed paragraph.

Worked walkthrough

Here is the whole process on one prompt, from a blank screen to a finished answer.

Prompt: Your upstairs neighbour has been playing loud music late at night, and it is keeping you awake before early mornings. Choose one of the following and speak to that person: (a) your neighbour, or (b) the building superintendent.

1. Read it for who, what, and the ask.
It's an awkward situation with two possible audiences. You must pick one, speak directly to that person, and end with a specific, doable fix — not just a complaint.

2. Plan — notes only.
In your 60 seconds of prep, choose the person first, then plan the proposal — that's the hard part to improvise.

3. Turn each note into a line.

Open and choose:

Hi Sam, sorry to catch you on the stairs — do you have a quick minute? I wanted to talk to you directly before going to the super about it.

The problem:

Over the past couple of weeks, there's been loud music from your place well past midnight on weeknights, and because the floors are so thin, it comes straight into my bedroom. I start work at six most mornings, so I've been running on very little sleep.

Their side:

I completely understand that you probably can't tell how much it carries, and I know you're not doing it to bother anyone.

The proposal:

I was wondering whether you could keep the volume down after about ten on weeknights — or, if you've got people over, maybe move the speaker off the wall we share? And feel free to text me if you ever want to check.

Close:

Thanks for hearing me out — I'd much rather sort this out between us.

4. Read it back.

Hi Sam, sorry to catch you on the stairs — do you have a quick minute? I wanted to talk to you directly before going to the super about it. Over the past couple of weeks, there's been loud music from your place well past midnight on weeknights, and because the floors are so thin, it comes straight into my bedroom. I start work at six most mornings, so I've been running on very little sleep. I completely understand that you probably can't tell how much it carries, and I know you're not doing it to bother anyone. I was wondering whether you could keep the volume down after about ten on weeknights — or, if you've got people over, maybe move the speaker off the wall we share? And feel free to text me if you ever want to check. Thanks for hearing me out — I'd much rather sort this out between us.

5. Check before you stop speaking.

• The opening line makes clear which person was chosen, and the answer stays with them throughout.
• The problem carries concrete detail — two weeks, past midnight, thin floors, a 6 a.m. start.
• One line grants the neighbour's side before the request arrives, and the fix is specific with a backup option.
• The register stays casual and consistent for a neighbour, with the softeners kept in, filling the full 60 seconds.

Full model answer

Prompt: You work evening shifts at a café. For the past few weeks, one of your coworkers has been leaving twenty minutes before closing, so you have been locking up alone. Choose one of the following and speak to that person: (a) your coworker, or (b) your shift supervisor.

Hi Daniel, do you have a second before you head out? I wanted to bring something up with you directly rather than go to Priya about it. For the last three weeks or so, you've been leaving around twenty to close, and it's meant I've been locking up on my own most nights — cashing out, mopping, taking out the garbage — so I've been getting home much later. I completely understand that your bus goes at ten past, and I know you're not leaving me with it on purpose. Would it be possible for you to start the cash-out earlier, around quarter to, so most of the closing jobs are done before you leave? Or if that's too tight, we could ask Priya to move your start time forward by fifteen minutes. Either way, I'd rather sort it out between us. Thanks for hearing me out — let me know what you think.

Timing check: ≈150 words ≈ 60 seconds at a calm pace, and this answer is about 150.

Why this scores well: the choice of listener is explicit and justified in the first two lines, the problem is specific (three weeks, twenty minutes, named closing duties), the softening line grants a real constraint before the request arrives, two workable solutions are offered, and the register stays consistent with a coworker throughout.

Model answer at two levels

Before you speak

• You have chosen one of the two people, and your opening line says which
• You address that person directly — second person, not a narration about them
• The problem includes at least one concrete detail: a timeframe, a count, or a place
• One sentence acknowledges the listener's side before you ask for anything
• You propose a specific action, not just a feeling
• A backup option or next step is ready in case you finish early
• The register matches the relationship named in the prompt

Common mistakes

• Never choosing. Answers that hedge between both listeners, or address neither, fail Task Fulfillment no matter how fluent the delivery is.
• Narrating instead of speaking. "My coworker has been leaving early and I find it difficult" describes the situation to nobody. The prompt asks you to talk to a person.
• Apologizing instead of proposing. Sounding considerate is not the task. A polite minute that never asks for anything is an incomplete answer.
• Going blunt. "You need to stop leaving early" is clear but unnatural, and it costs you the softening vocabulary the task is designed to elicit.
• Spending forty seconds on the problem. Prepare the proposal first, then work backwards. The fix is the part that is hardest to improvise under time pressure.
• Reusing one word. If "situation" turns up four times in sixty seconds, your Vocabulary score follows. Vary with issue, problem, thing that came up, difficulty.

For five more Task 6 prompts to practise with, each with a short answer plan, see CELPIP Speaking practice questions.

For wording a polite request in situations like this, see the work and careers, time and productivity and relationships and family pages of the Collocations Kit, and the natural spoken phrases for CELPIP Speaking for softening phrases.