LanguageCert B1 Speaking and Listening practice test 1
Questions about your town, technology, cooking and celebrations, role plays with a colleague and a neighbour, choosing a leaving present, a talk about Priya's volunteering, and an important day in your life.
How to use this test. The real exam is a 11 to 13 minute conversation with one examiner, so the questions will not be exactly these. Press a button to hear the examiner, answer out loud in your own words, then compare with the example. Practise with a friend as the examiner if you can.
Questions about you
1½ to 2½ minutesFirst, practise the start: say your full name, spell your family name, and say where you are from. Then answer these. In the exam the examiner asks four, one from each topic.
Your town
What do you like most about the place where you live?
How has your area changed in the last few years?
What would you show a visitor to your town?
Would you prefer to live in a city or in the countryside? Why?
Technology
How often do you use your phone?
What do you use the internet for most?
Do you think children spend too much time on screens? Why?
What piece of technology could you not live without?
Food and cooking
Who does the cooking in your home?
What is a typical dish from your country?
Do you think people eat more healthily now than in the past? Why?
What was the last meal you cooked for other people?
Celebrations
What is the most important celebration in your country?
How do you usually celebrate your birthday?
Do you prefer big parties or small celebrations? Why?
Tell me about a wedding you have been to.
Role plays
1½ to 2 minutesIn the exam there are two situations. In the first, the examiner starts and you answer; in the second, you start. Each one is about two short turns each. Here are two of each kind.
The examiner starts
Situation 1
I'm your colleague. I start.
“You look really stressed today. Is everything all right?”
Situation 2
We're friends. I start.
“I'm thinking of buying a car, but I'm not sure if it's worth it.”
You start
Situation 3
We're neighbours. Your neighbour's music is very loud late at night. You start.
Situation 4
I'm a shop assistant. You want to return a coat you bought as a present. You start.
Discuss and decide
about 2½ minutesThe examiner describes a situation and shows you some ideas. Discuss them together: give your opinion with reasons, ask for the examiner's, and try to agree. The examiner says:
“A colleague of ours is leaving the company after ten years, and we want to buy a leaving present from the team. Here are some ideas. Let's discuss them and decide what to buy.”
The ideas
- A gift voucher
- A plant for her garden
- A framed photo of the team
- A meal at a restaurant
- A good pen with her name on it
Listen and answer
about 3 minutesThe examiner says: “I'm going to tell you about Priya and her volunteering. I'll read it two times.” Read the three questions first. Play the talk, make notes, then play it a second time. Then answer each question out loud or type it.
Talk 1
Why did Priya start volunteering?
What does Priya find hardest?
What does Priya hope to organise next year?
Show the words
Priya works full time in an accountant's office, but every Saturday morning she volunteers at a food bank in her town. She started two years ago, after a friend lost his job and needed help. At first she only packed boxes of food, but now she also talks to the visitors and helps them fill in forms for other kinds of support. She says the hardest part is seeing families with young children who don't have enough to eat. However, she has made many new friends there, and she feels it has made her more patient. Next year she hopes to organise a cooking class for visitors, using the food they receive.
Your talk
2½ to 3 minutes, with questionsThe examiner says: “Now you're going to talk on your own for one and a half minutes. Your topic is an important day in your life. You now have thirty seconds to write some notes.”
See example notes and an example talk
Example notes
- which day, when
- where I was, who with
- what happened
- how I felt
- why it was important
Example talk: One of the most important days of my life was the day I arrived in the UK, in March six years ago. My husband had already been here for a year, and I came with our two children. I remember the flight was long and the children were tired, but when we came out at the airport and saw my husband waiting, my daughter ran to him and cried. I felt happy but also nervous, because everything was new: the weather, the language and the food. It was important because it was the start of a completely new life for our family. Now my children speak English better than I do, and this country feels like home.
Follow-up questions
After your talk, the examiner asks a few questions about it.
What was the most difficult thing about the first few months?
Do you still remember your first week clearly?
What advice would you give someone who has just moved to a new country?
What next?
- LanguageCert B1 practice test 2: Questions about health, learning English, transport and work, role plays about a late friend and a broken laptop, planning a day out for a visitor, a talk about Tom's move to the countryside, and a person who has helped you.
- LanguageCert B1 tips: what to do in each part, and a study plan
- LanguageCert B1: the format and how it is marked
TestWise Prep is independent and is not connected to LanguageCert or PeopleCert. Format checked against LanguageCert's SELT pages, practice papers and handbook on 14 October 2026; every practice question, situation, talk and example answer here is our own.