CELPIP Listening Part 2: Listening to a Daily Life Conversation, format and tips

The part at a glance

What you hear and see

One conversation, played once, between two people who know each other, about something in their daily lives.

After the recording, each question is read aloud and its four answers appear on screen. You choose one before the 30-second timer runs out, then the next question begins.

Question types

• Reasons: why something happened, or why someone did it. These are most of the questions.
• A suggestion: what one speaker suggests the other do.
• The main idea, or what the speakers mean without saying it.

Practise Part 2

A practice set for this part, with its own recordings, is coming soon. Until then, the free Listening & Reading mock has the full Listening section, with every recording played once.

Tips for Part 2

• Work out early who the two people are to each other: friends, neighbours or family.
• Listen for reasons, with or without words like "because" and "so": most questions ask why.
• Notice changes of mind: a plan often shifts during the conversation.
• Note any suggestion one speaker makes, and how the other answers it.
• Keep the main point of the conversation in mind, not only its details.

Common mistakes

• Picking an answer that repeats words from the conversation but changes their meaning.
• Choosing a reason that is true but explains something else in the conversation.
• Keeping the first plan in mind after the speakers change it.

Questions

What is CELPIP Listening Part 2 about?

A conversation between two people about an everyday situation, then 5 questions with 30 seconds to answer each.

How long do you have to answer in CELPIP Listening Part 2?

30 seconds for each question.

For all six parts and how they are timed, see the CELPIP Listening page.

See every part and task in the CELPIP test format, or how to practise for CELPIP.