Describing an Unusual Situation

Describing an Unusual Situation: an illustrated example

Original practice scenario: You are at an evening market and notice an unusual information booth. Call a friend who is on the way. Describe the booth and explain how to find you.

Choose a route through the picture

1. Identify the place: a riverside evening market.
2. Name the unusual feature: an information booth shaped like a huge lantern.
3. Add visible details: glowing yellow walls, red patterns, an open counter and maps.
4. Finish with the call's purpose: tell your friend where to meet you.

A possible opening

“Hi Maya, I'm at the evening market beside the river. There is an information booth here that looks like an enormous yellow lantern, with red patterns around the outside. A section at the front is open, and an attendant is handing maps across the counter. It is much larger than the lanterns hanging in the trees. When you arrive, look for the glowing round booth near the waterfront; I'll wait beside it.”

This short opening moves from the setting to the distinctive shape, then to smaller details and a clear meeting point. It demonstrates organization, not a complete timed response or an official band score. Other accurate descriptions of the image can work.

Try your own version

Close the opening, keep the picture visible and record a fresh response. Replace repeated uses of “strange” or “nice” with concrete details about size, shape, colour, position and action. Replay it once to check whether a listener who cannot see the image could picture the booth.

Original CELPIP Studio teaching example. Independent preparation, not an official CELPIP question or an examiner-rated response.