CELPIP® Listening: the six parts, with tips and a sample

• Six parts, 38 scored questions: 8, 5, 6, 5, 8 and 6 questions, in that order.
• Time: about 46 to 55 minutes for the whole section, according to celpip.ca.
• Each recording plays once. It starts by itself, and you cannot pause it or play it again.
• The questions come after the recording, never during it, so you answer from memory and from your notes.
• Two ways to answer: in Parts 1 to 3 you hear each question and see only its four options, one question per screen. In Parts 4 to 6 every question is printed on one screen with a drop-down menu, under one clock.
• Unscored questions: Paragon says unscored questions can appear anywhere in Listening and Reading and look just like the scored ones, so give every question your full attention.

For all four sections of the test, see the CELPIP test format.

What you hear: one conversation in three sections. Two people, often a customer and a staff member or two coworkers, work through a problem: one has it, and the other helps. After each section you answer two or three of its questions, eight in all.

How the questions work: you hear each question; it is not printed. Its four options are on the screen, and you have 30 seconds to choose. A Part 1 question can also show four small pictures instead of written options.

What the questions ask: what the problem is, which solutions are offered and turned down, what the speakers decide and what happens next.

Strategy: write the problem in three or four words as soon as you hear it. Then list each suggestion and mark it as accepted or rejected. Words such as “actually”, “the thing is” and “in that case” often signal a change of plan.

What you hear: a longer conversation, a dozen or so turns, between two people who know each other: friends, neighbours, relatives or coworkers talking about plans, a decision or something that happened.

How the questions work: five questions after the conversation, heard and not printed, one per screen, each with four options and 30 seconds.

What the questions ask: the main topic, details such as who, when and where, what a speaker means or feels, and what they will probably do next.

Strategy: split your page into two columns, one per speaker, so that every detail lands under the right person. Feelings often show in tone and in phrases such as “I suppose”, “to be honest” or “that’s not a bad idea”, and questions about what someone means usually depend on them.

What you hear: a conversation in which one person needs information and the other has it, for example someone asking about a course, a service, a booking or a new program at work.

How the questions work: six heard questions, one per screen, each with four options and 30 seconds.

What the questions ask: mostly specific details, such as times, dates, conditions and steps, and what the person asking decides to do.

Strategy: note numbers, days and conditions such as “only if”, “unless” and “as long as”. Details often change during the conversation (“Oh, wait, that changed in September”), so cross out the old version and keep the final one.

What you hear: one news reader presenting a short local story: what happened, who was involved, how people reacted and what happens next.

How the questions work: after the report, five printed sentence beginnings appear on one screen. You complete each one by choosing from its drop-down menu. One clock of 3 minutes 25 seconds covers all five, so you can answer them in any order.

Strategy: you cannot see the questions while you listen, so note the basics of any news story: who, what, where, when and why, and every number you hear.

What you see and hear: a video of three people discussing something, such as planning an event or solving a problem at work. Each person is introduced by name, and you can see where they sit.

How the questions work: eight printed questions on one screen, each with a drop-down menu of options, and 4 minutes for all eight.

What the questions ask: who suggests what, who agrees or objects and why, and what the group decides in the end.

Strategy: as the people are introduced, write their names across the top of your page in the order they sit, left to right, and put each idea under the person who said it. Paragon’s note-taking advice says the questions do not ask about small details you happen to notice in the video, so follow the words and the tone of voice rather than the faces.

What you hear: one speaker presenting a prepared report on an issue, like a short radio feature, that sets out the views of two or more people. It uses the most demanding vocabulary in the section.

How the questions work: six printed sentence beginnings on one screen, completed from drop-down menus, with 4 minutes 20 seconds for all six.

What the questions ask: the issue itself, each person’s position and reasons, and what the speaker or a person in the report would most likely agree with.

Strategy: give each named person a line in your notes, with “for” or “against” and one reason. Contrast words such as “however”, “on the other hand”, “critics argue” and “supporters point out” mark where one view ends and the next begins.

• Paper, not the screen: at the test centre you get paper and a pen for notes. There is no box on the screen for typing them.
• Notes are not scored. Nobody reads them, so write only what helps you answer: key words, numbers, names and arrows.
• Practise on paper. Writing by hand while you listen feels different from typing, so practise the way you will be tested.
• Use the same short forms every time, such as OK and NO for accepted and rejected ideas, an arrow for “leads to” and each speaker’s first letter.

Here is how notes for the Part 1 sample above might look:

PROBLEM: gears slip uphill (since train trip)
CAUSE?: cable stretched / hanger bent
1) leave bike -> Thurs, full tune-up    NO (rides to work daily, bus ~1 h)
2) fix hanger + cable NOW, ~20 min      OK
NEXT: still slips -> book tune-up on a Sat
Customer: coffee next door, then back

• Choosing the option that repeats words you heard. Wrong options often reuse words from the recording to say something else; the right one usually says the same thing in different words.
• Picking a suggestion that was turned down. In Parts 1 and 3 the first idea is often rejected, so check what the speakers finally agree on.
• Mixing up the speakers. In Parts 5 and 6, an option can state a real view from the recording but give it to the wrong person.
• Spending the whole clock on one item. In Parts 4 to 6 one clock covers every item on the screen, so answer the ones you are sure of first.
• Leaving a question blank. Points are not taken off for wrong answers, so choose an option for every question.

A computer scores Listening. Each of the 38 scored questions is right or wrong, and wrong answers cost nothing extra. Your number of correct answers, the raw score, converts to a CELPIP level for Listening. From level 3 up, a CELPIP level equals the Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level of the same number.

Paragon publishes an approximate chart of raw scores for each level, and neighbouring ranges overlap. On that chart, for example, about 27 to 31 correct answers is around level 7, and about 33 to 35 is around level 9. See the CELPIP score chart for every level, and the CLB calculator to turn levels into CLB and CRS points.

On Prepiva, your Listening level is a practice estimate: we count your correct answers and use cut-offs close to Paragon’s approximate chart.

Prepiva’s free CELPIP mock test has all six Listening parts in the test’s order and timing, and each recording plays once. Your report shows an estimated level and CLB for each skill, and you can review every question. Practise Listening on its own in the free CELPIP Listening practice test, read more about the free CELPIP practice test, or go on to the Reading guide, the next section of the test.