How to use the time
- Use the 30 seconds to pick one time, not a habit. When it was, what happened, and how it ended. Jot words if you need them. You will not have time to read sentences aloud.
- Say when and where, in one sentence. “Last summer in Gatineau Park, I…” This task is one experience that happened to you. It is not advice, and it is not an opinion.
- Say what happened, then one concrete detail. Then how you felt, with one detail. That is most of the 60 seconds. One occasion is enough. The test does not count your feelings. It listens for a clear experience you lived.
- Close with what you took from it, in one line. If a few seconds remain, add a detail to the part you already told. Starting a second story just to fill the minute leaves both of them thin.
“I usually…” does not finish this task. Name one day.
Three situations
Task example
Talk about a time you got lost on a hiking trail and had to find your way back. Say what happened and how you felt.
Sample answer
WhenLast summer I was hiking alone in Gatineau Park and missed a trail marker.
What happenedThe path got narrow, and I didn’t recognize the trees. I stopped, checked the map while my phone still had a signal, and walked back to the last junction I remembered.
How it feltFor a minute I was properly scared, and then mostly embarrassed that I had walked past a blue blaze.
CloseI tell someone my route now, and I slow down at every fork.
Task example
Talk about a time you voted in a Canadian election for the first time. Say what happened and how you felt.
Sample answer
Task example
Talk about a time you helped a tourist who spoke little English. Say what happened and how you felt.