I know a couple who are eager to apply for citizenship now that they have fulfilled the residency requirement. However, the demands of working and raising children prevented from completing an ESL or LINC program. I have told them that the CELPIP Listening & Speaking is probably the best option for them, but they need to practice first. We have started going over some of the sample tests provided on the CELPIP site. For the listening component, it appears that 14-18 correct answers out of 38 are required in order to achieve the minimum Level 4 benchmark. I am fairly confident they can meet that. But the guidelines for the speaking component are not as clear-cut. One thing in particular that concerns me is that they are struggling to fill the time allotted for their response (I believe it is 30 seconds preparation and 60 seconds to record their response). One minute is longer than it seems, and even I (as a native English speaker), found it a bit challenging to speak for a full minute on the scenarios presented. I am wondering if anyone knows how much weight is placed on the length of time spoken? If they can give a clear answer, with sufficient details, within 30-45 seconds, will their scores be adversely affected for not using up the full 60 seconds?
