How to Prepare for the Duolingo English Test on Your Own
- KLAVA
- 23 янв.
- 7 мин. чтения
The Duolingo language test is gaining momentum and is becoming more and more popular every day, especially for those who are planning to enter a foreign university.
I have already written articles about this test, and in my opinion, it is one of the most convenient and useful tests, which is easy to pass. However, preparing for it may not be so simple, since you will not find a special book for this, as well as courses.
All efforts are exclusively on yourself.
Having experience in passing and independent preparation, I will say that this is not an easy task, but possible.
And the main thing, as everywhere, is to understand the structure of the test itself.
Let's start with the opposite, namely, what divisions occur when calculating points.
The test results will be sent to your email in the form of a document, where your overall score will be written, and the scores for each of the four sections.
Sections:
Literacy - here your reading and writing abilities are assessed.
Comprehension - your reading and listening abilities are assessed.
Conversation - your listening and speaking abilities are assessed.
Production - your writing and speaking abilities are assessed.
In the future, if you are not satisfied with the results, you will understand in which section you have problems, and which questions you need to practice more diligently.
Test questions and preparation tips
Read and Complete
According to the experience of the guys who are taking and have taken the test, this type of question causes the greatest difficulties. Three minutes are given for this task, which is quite enough.
Advice: read the entire text, only then start filling it out. Take your time and think about what this text is about. If you do not know what to put, it is better not to put anything.
Affects the score of the section: LITERACY, COMPREHENSION
Read and Select
An interesting question where you need to choose a real word in the English language.
Advice: Look through the words very carefully, they may be written as we pronounce them, but in fact we write them differently. Or, there are words with incorrect prefixes (uncomfort -> discomfort). One letter may be replaced, or the plural may be written incorrectly, or an irregular verb in the correct form. There are many options, the main thing is attentiveness.
Read the dictionary, repeat the suffixes and prefixes, irregular verbs.
And do not worry if suddenly there are not enough selected words.
Affects the section score: LITERACY, COMPREHENSION
Listen and Select
This type of question is similar to the previous one, where you need to choose a real word, only now by ear.
Tip: listen carefully to the words.
Affects the score of the section: COMPREHENSION, CONVERSATION
Listen and Type
This type of task is a regular dictation, in which you will be read a sentence
(and not so slowly), and you will need to write it down. You will be able to listen to the sentence twice.
Advice: The first time you listen, write down everything as you heard it, the second time, fill in the gaps, if any, the third time, check for errors
(spelling, punctuation). Be sure to put a punctuation mark at the end of the sentence, its absence will be considered an error.
You can practice dictations on the websites:
Affects the score of the section: COMPREHENSION, CONVERSATION
Read Aloud
Here you just need to read the sentence out loud. Before recording, say the sentence out loud, pay attention to punctuation.
Advice: read out loud, pronounce all the words, check the pronunciation in the dictionaries.
Talk to Siri, Alice, Alexa - you will get an answer from them if you pronounce the words correctly.
Join conversation clubs.
Useful sites:
Affects the section score: COMPREHENSION, CONVERSATION
Write About the Photo
We are familiar with this task from school. You have a minute in which you must describe the picture in writing.
The most important thing in this task is to stick to the structure of the answer.
-What do you see in the picture (who, what, actions);
-What is in the background (where);
-What emotions and thoughts does this photo evoke in you.
Don't forget about the sentence structure and punctuation. Try to write more than one sentence, which will give your answer a higher score.
Tip: Practice with different pictures on the Internet, of course, with the timer on. Write yourself the structure of the answer and phrases for this task in advance.
Affects the section score: LITERACY, PRODUCTION
Speak About the Photo
The task type is similar to the one mentioned above, only here you will need to say your answer out loud.
Advice: Practice describing the picture out loud. Take your time, say each word clearly. Do not go into a silent stupor if you forget a word or phrase, continue speaking, trying to replace the idea with simple words.
Affects the score of the section: CONVERSATION, PRODUCTION
Read, Then Writе
In this option, you will need to answer the question in writing. Do not rush to click the "Next" button, use all the time until the end. It will be better for you if your answer is more than 50 words. Leave time to check what you have written. Pay attention to capital letters, punctuation, grammar. Duolingo test accepts both British and American spelling. The exception is in the Read and Complete question, where only American English is used.
Advice: Do not mix American and British languages. When preparing, I wrote out all the questions of this type that I encountered in practice and wrote out the answers several times to remember the structure of the answer. Also, in each new answer I tried to insert higher-level words. I worked through synonyms in order to avoid tautology.
Affects the section score: LITERACY, PRODUCTION
Read, Then Speak
In this type of question, you need to answer orally. Do not rush to write down the answer right away, use 15 seconds to think.
Answering the questions asked clearly will help you stick to the initial idea of the question and not go in another direction.
Tip: Say the answers out loud, record yourself and listen. During the test, make sure that you have answered each question. During the answer, try to speak in sentences of different structures, and also avoid tautologies.
Affects the score of the section: CONVERSATION, PRODUCTION
Listen, Then Speak
And the third question, awaiting your oral answer, will be in audio form.
In my opinion, one of the most difficult, since here you need to understand the essence of the question by ear. Do not panic, use two attempts to listen to the question again and start answering.
Affects the score of the section: CONVERSATION, PRODUCTION
Complete the Sentences
A new section in the test that requires you to understand the general idea of the text. This section takes 7 or 8 minutes and includes 6 questions about the text. In the first question, you will simply need to choose the most appropriate word.
Tip: Read the entire text, then the sentence, understand what it is about, insert the appropriate option. After completing the task, read the text completely to make sure it makes sense.
Practice sites:
Affects the score of the section: LITERACY COMPREHENSION
Complete the Passage
An interesting task where you will need to choose the appropriate fragment of the text.
Tip: Some sentences will have the same meaning as was in the text at the beginning. Therefore, carefully delve into the essence of what you read. Pay close attention to the sentences before and after the missed fragment.
Affects the score of the section: LITERACY, COMPREHENSION
Highlight the Answer
Here you are required to answer a question about the text and highlight the answer.
Tip: Highlight only the answer, do not highlight the entire sentence.
Affects the section score: LITERACY, COMPREHENSION
Identify the Idea
In this task you need to choose the main idea of the text.
Advice: Carefully read all the suggested options, they will be similar to some extent.
Affects the score of the section: LITERACY, COMPREHENSION
Title the Passage
The final stage of this section will be choosing a title for the text.
Advice: I advise only one thing - to carefully read and understand the main idea touched upon in the text itself.
Affects the section score: LITERACY, COMPREHENSION
Writing Sample
This part of the test is your essay writing skills, although here it will be in a mini version.
Advice: Strictly follow the topic that you stick to when answering. Use different sentence structures, as well as passive and active constructions. Argue the facts. Stick to the essay writing plan, which has a beginning, middle, end. Leave time to check the text.
Preparing for this and the next part of the test, I took questions from IELTS, and reread the answers to them. There are many sites on preparing for IELTS, so Google will help you...
Affects the score of the section: LITERACY, PRODUCTION
Speaking Sample
In the last task, you will have to answer a question in video format.
Tip: Practice answering questions with a timer to help you keep track of time and avoid being distracted by constantly looking at your watch.
After recording this answer, the test will end!
After reading the article to the end, you may think: and where are the materials for preparing for the test.
My answer is - a clear understanding of the structure of the questions will lead you to a good result on the real test.
I told you about all the questions, and once again I will remind you what topics in English to review:
- synonyms, antonyms;
- prefixes and suffixes;
- structure and types of sentences;
- active and passive sentences;
- connecting words and phrases;
- punctuation.
And a huge piece of advice - read more in English and listen to podcasts.
What to read in English:
What to listen to in English:
If you have any questions about this test, write to me - I will share my experience with you and answer your questions.
Chat in Telegram ( @Detpreporation ) for those who are preparing to take the test and want to find like-minded people)
Write to klava.magazine@gmail.com
Written by Alina Starostina
@girlbdash_klava
@klava_paradise
@klavamagazine