NAATI Interpreter Test Sample

Facts checked 2026-11-10

Quick answer: This NAATI interpreter test sample is an original English–Mandarin CPI role-play excerpt with source text and audio. It shows the opening four turns of our free first task, a fictional hospital discharge conversation. It is not a NAATI test question or recalled exam content. To interpret the full task, try task 1 free.

On this page

Read the situation before pressing play
Listen to the first four turns
What to notice in the opening exchange
How the real spoken-language CPI test works
Prepare notes without writing a translated script
Practise clarification as a separate skill
Compare a sample, a task and a full mock
Find the examination provider’s free material
Frequently asked questions
Sources

Read the situation before pressing play

The setting is the discharge lounge of a fictional public hospital in Western Sydney. A nurse is discussing discharge arrangements with a patient’s daughter. The mother has been assessed after a fall and is ready to leave hospital. The daughter will collect her and stay with her that night. The conversation is about support at home, mobility and questions that need clarification before leaving.

Use that situation as your preparation brief. Identify the roles and the purpose before trying to translate the first sentence. A discharge conversation can contain a factual arrangement and a concern in the same turn. Listen for both. The sample is a language-learning activity; the fictional dialogue is not medical guidance for a reader or a patient.

Listen to the first four turns

The transcripts below are the speakers’ original words, not model interpretations. The nurse speaks English and the daughter speaks Mandarin. Your task is to transfer each message into the other language. Each audio control plays its corresponding source turn; there is no need to download a separate collection of recordings or create a new account just to listen to this excerpt.

1. Nurse

Your mum has been cleared to go home this afternoon. Before you collect the paperwork, I’d like to check who will be staying with her tonight and whether there are any steps between the car and her bedroom.

2. Daughter

今晚我会陪着她，明早再去上班。前门有三级台阶，卧室在一楼，不用上楼。她平时不爱麻烦人，刚才还说自己能走，我有点担心她回家就把助行架放到一边。

3. Nurse

Thanks, that helps. The physiotherapist has shown her how to manage those steps with someone beside her. She should use the frame as demonstrated, including short trips to the bathroom. Would you feel comfortable watching that demonstration before you leave?

4. Daughter

可以，我想亲眼看一遍。还有个事，她一直说这次摔倒是身体太虚，想喝点补汤，再吃家里原来的保健品。我不是要跟你争，只是想知道这些要不要先停一下。

Read the text once to check the setting, then try another listening attempt without following it line by line. If you want a recording workflow with the rest of the conversation, open the NAATI CPI practice test. The excerpt does not include our internal assessment notes or the later turns of the full task.

What to notice in the opening exchange

The opening English turn asks about who will stay with the mother and whether there are steps between the car and bedroom. Those questions are part of the message; they are not background to skip in favour of a general statement that discharge is going ahead. A listener needs the actual questions in order to provide the relevant answers.

The Mandarin reply supplies arrangements and a concern about the walking frame. When reviewing your interpretation, ask whether the English listener could distinguish the home layout from the daughter’s worry. Preserving that relationship is more useful than reciting the source word order. In the next English turn, notice that an explanation is followed by a request. In the daughter’s reply, distinguish agreement from a further question about what the mother wants to take at home.

This is a self-review exercise, not a model-answer test. There can be different ways to express the same meaning. Do not change an uncertain detail simply to make the sentence sound smoother. If you are comparing recordings with a partner, discuss what the intended listener would understand from each version.

How the real spoken-language CPI test works

The CPI candidate instructions describe three live consecutive-interpreting role-plays. Two are face-to-face dialogues and another is an audio-only remote dialogue. Each involves an English-speaking role-player and a role-player speaking your other test language, in a different situation and domain.

In consecutive mode, the speaker delivers a turn and the interpreter then relays it. The real examination therefore includes managing a live conversation, not simply replaying clips until every word is familiar. This recorded excerpt illustrates the source material in our own practice activity. It cannot demonstrate how a live role-player would respond to your clarification request or intervention.

For delivery, timing and notes, read the CPI test format guide and then the instructions for your booking. Spoken-language CPI instructions should not be applied unchanged to Auslan or Deaf Interpreter tests, which have separate instructions linked from the CPI certification page.

Prepare notes without writing a translated script

NAATI sends test briefs three calendar days beforehand. It allows a single A4 sheet containing the brief and preparation notes for each task. There is no additional preparation period on the test day. Receiving a brief is different from receiving the role-play dialogue. You need to interpret what the role-players actually say, including unexpected replies.

For this sample, write short prompts for the situation, the roles and unfamiliar vocabulary. During listening, experiment with notes for who, when, questions and conditions. After speaking, check whether those prompts helped you retain the relationship between details. If a dense vocabulary list distracted you from the request in the sentence, simplify it. The CPI preparation guide gives a study sequence using this same first task.

Practise clarification as a separate skill

A source transcript can conceal listening difficulties because you already know the word you are trying to hear. To notice this, listen before opening the text. If you cannot understand part of a turn, identify the problem: inaudible speech, an unfamiliar expression or uncertainty about the intended meaning. Do not assume that all three are fixed by asking the speaker to repeat everything.

NAATI Learn’s CPI module includes interactional-management activities about repetition, clarification, turn-taking and remote interpreting. For rehearsal, you can state an intervention as the interpreter, for example: “The interpreter would like to clarify that expression.” This is an illustrative phrase, not wording required by NAATI. In a real conversation, keep both parties informed before returning to their dialogue. The prerecorded audio here will not answer an intervention.

Compare a sample, a task and a full mock

Activity	What it contains	What it is useful for
This sample	Opening source text and audio	Understanding our original scenario
Free task 1	A complete role-play recording activity	Practising both directions with a brief
Full CPI mock	Three original tasks	Rehearsing a wider practice sitting

A short sample is not a full test. Free task 1 is also not the complete three-task examination. See the NAATI CPI mock test for how the tasks fit together, and check the practice plans before selecting more practice. The practice report gives six band estimates; it is not a NAATI examination result.

Find the examination provider’s free material

To compare this original scenario with the examination provider’s preparation resources, open NAATI Learn. The CPI module offers practice dialogues and self-review material. NAATI states that these activities do not provide results or feedback from NAATI. They are preparation resources rather than an assessed certification attempt.

Keep the source of each activity clear when collecting samples. This page’s nurse-and-daughter conversation was written for this site. It should not be labelled as a past paper or presented as a prediction of what you will hear. To continue from the excerpt into the full original conversation, try task 1 free, then sign in to see your practice report.

Frequently asked questions

Is this sample a NAATI exam question?

No. The English–Mandarin role-play is original practice material written for this site. It is not recalled or reproduced NAATI test content.

Does the sample include audio?

Yes. Each of the opening four turns has a source audio player and its original transcript. The transcripts are not model interpretations.

How many role-plays are in spoken-language CPI?

The examination has three live consecutive role-plays: two face-to-face dialogues and one audio-only remote dialogue, in different situations and domains.

Can I practise the whole first task?

Yes. Open the practice room to try task 1 free once per account. Sign in for the practice report with six band estimates.

Where can I find NAATI preparation material?

NAATI Learn has a free CPI Preparation Module with dialogues and self-review activities. Those activities do not provide results or feedback from NAATI.

Sources

Facts checked against NAATI pages on 10 November 2026.