Duolingo English test pointers to remember and understand-

1. Dictation-
 Use all the replays.
 Listen out for connected speech. (Reduced forms,
contractions, etc.)
 Practice on You Tube.
 Spelling and punctuation.
2. Read aloud-
 Not too slow, not too fast (Use your natural pace).
 Pronounce the syllables clearly (common mistakes, -ed
and –s ending words).
 Use the punctuation to know when to pause. (Examples,
“If you need help, let me know.”
 Don’t leave out or change words.
3. Yes/No vocabulary-
 Read and listen to English content as much as possible.
 Study useful lists. The link-
 Study prefixes and suffixes.
 Only select the words you know.
4. Fill in the blanks-
 Read, Read, Read!
 Read the first and last line first to understand the topic.
 Be careful with spelling.
 Make your own examples.
5. Writing at least 50 words in 5 minutes’ information to be
remembered.
 If you are not able to write 50 words under the time limit
then, you will get the lowest score on this test.
 This question comes only once in the test. And you have
only 5 minutes to complete the test.
 The independent tasks require test takers to describe,
recount, or make an argument; these require the test
 takers to demonstrate more discursive knowledge of
writing in addition to language knowledge.
 The style of writing asked in the exam- describe, recount
(talk about your experiences) and make an argument
(put forward some of your ideas against and towards
the given topic).
 Scoring criteria is as follows- Grammatical accuracy and
complexity, Lexical sophistication and diversity
(vocabulary), Task relevance (did you answer the
question), Fluency (cohesion) (whether the writer is able
to write his/her ideas smoothly and in a logical manner)
and Length (at least 50 words).
 Tips-
Tip1: Answer the question fully- recognize the type of
writing you have to do by identifying it as describe,
recount and make an argument.
o Example of a make an argument type of question-
“A university plans to develop a new research
center in your country. Some people want a center
for business research, while others want a center
for research in agriculture. Which of these two
kinds of research centers would you recommend,
and why?” What do I need to do for this question- I
need to make an argument for one option, give
reasons (at least two).
o Example of describe type “In general, people are
living longer today. Discuss some implications of
this phenomenon.” What do I need to do for this
question- I have to either think about the effects or
changes that this phenomenon people are living
longer have on society and I have to describe them.
Describe at least 2 implications and provide
 examples or further information to support your
ideas.
o Example of recount type “Films can tell us a lot
about the country where they were made. What
have you learned about another country from
watching its movies?”. What do I need to do for
this question- Pick one country, 2 things you
learned from these movies and provide examples
of these.
Tip2- Organizing your answer. Your answer should
include an Introduction: Topic sentence, supporting
sentences and concluding sentences.
o Topic sentence is the first sentence of a paragraph.
It tells the reader what the paragraph is about. The
topic sentence also states your position or opinion
(Argumentative).
o Example- Some people believe they should keep all
the money they earn and not pay tax to the state.
Do you agree or disagree? (Argumentative)
o Answer- I disagree with the statement that
individuals should keep all the money they earn
and not pay taxes for two main reasons
(controlling sentence).
o Supporting sentences explain and develop the topic
sentences. They discuss the topic sentence by
explaining the main ideas and discussing those
more fully. They even include reasons, examples,
facts, results, statistics, or anything else that
proves your ideas are true. They could be more
than one.
o Example- (Topic sentence) - I disagree with the
statement that individuals should keep all the
 money they earn and not pay taxes for two main
reasons.
o Supporting sentence: First and foremost, taxpayer
money collected by the government is used to fund
basic amenities and public services, such as running
water, schools, and hospitals. It’s important to
remember that without taxpayer money we would
not have such basic services and our lives would be
worse off as a result.
o Concluding sentence is used to signal the end of the
paragraph. It tells the reader the important points
to remember. It is often a paraphrase of the topic
sentence.
o Example- Concluding sentence: In conclusion, even
though many people argue that we should not pay
taxes, based on the reasons discusses, I believe
taxation is vital in order to maintain a high
standard of living.
o Final product: - I strongly disagree with the
statement (the opinion is being state clearly) that
individuals should not pay taxes to the state for
two main reasons. First and foremost, taxpayer
money collected by the government is used to fund
basic amenities and public services, such as running
water, schools, and hospitals. It’s important to
remember that without taxpayer money we would
not have such basic services and our lives would be
worse off as a result. Additionally, taxes help
stabilizes the economy. Through taxes, the
government is able to pay off debts and invest in
the country, which in turn, leads to a more stable
and prosperous place to live. In conclusion, even
 though many people argue that we should not pay
taxes, bases on the reasons discussed, I believe
taxation is vital in order to maintain a high
standard of living. (Transition words) (Two
supporting ideas with additional information)
6. Describing an image through speaking and writing.
 How this task is scored?
o Content- How well you describe the image. Don’t
just label the image. Vocabulary range and
precision and grammatical range and accuracy is
what is important to score good marks for content.
Labeling- is just spotting things in the picture.
o Fluency- How smoothly you describe the image.
You will be scored for fluency according to your
speed, smoothness, phrasing. Avoid too many
hesitations. Avoid repeating your sentences.
o Pronunciation- How clearly you describe the image.
High score= native-like pronunciation. Your score
for pronunciation will depend whether a native
English speaker can understand you easily.
Pronunciation of phonemes, connected speech
intonation.
 Method of answering this task.
o Planning (don’t speak). Analyze the picture in your
head without speaking. Ask yourself these
questions like “What do I see in the image?” and
“What is the most important thing in the image?”.
If people are in the image, then people will be the
most important part of the image.
o General summary done in one or two sentences.
You could start with- “This picture shows…” or
“There is/are…”. Remember to use a little bit of
 detail. Present simple/ continuous grammar. Even
use prepositions.
o Example- This image shows a man and a woman
sitting next to each other on a bench in a park and
they look upset about something. (This is an ideal
sentence for a general summary.)

o Describe the location. What is in the image and

where it is positioned? There are three ways to do
this- 1. Left to right/ right to left, 2. Top to bottom/
bottom to top and 3. Far to near/ near to far. Use
adverbs of place. Use adjectives to describe the
objects.
o Examples of adverbs of place- at the top, in the
center/ in the middle, in the corner, at the bottom,
to the left, to the right, under/ beneath/
underneath/ below, in the background/
foreground, in front of, directly opposite, exactly in
the middle of, roughly in the middle of, in close
proximity to, just above and parallel to.
o Example- (describing the location of the image by
using the far to near approach/ Moving from
background to the foreground). There is a tall
white building that looks like a church, which is in
the background in the top right hand corner. There
 are some people waiting outside. In front of that
building, there is a narrow path, which leads to
another building on the left. That building is under
construction. There is also a small park in front of
the white building that has several trees and lots of
crisp autumn leaves covering the grass. The two
young adults are sitting on brown bench in the
foreground of this image.

o All words written in purple are adjectives. All words

written in green are adverbs of place.
o Add detail to important parts of the image. Don’t
add detail to everything. Ask yourself: What the
most important part? Then use vocabulary: action
verbs, adjectives, adverbs. The grammar should be
in present simple/ continuous.
o Example- The two people both look irritated and
they’re not talking to each other. The man is
holding his forehead with both hands and staring
down at the pavement, while the woman has her
head in her right hand and looking in the opposite
direction to the man.
 o Speculate (theorize) only if you have enough time.
It means to guess about what is happening or
already happened. Don’t speculate about
everything. Why is something happening now?
(use modal verbs, probably, suppose, maybe etc.).
Why did something happen in the past? (use past
modal verbs, eg- might have, must have).
 Sample answer-
This image shows a man and a woman sitting next to each other on
a bench in a park and they look upset about something.
There is a tall white building that look like a church, which is in the
background in the top right-hand corner. There are some people
waiting outside that building. In front of that building, there is a
narrow path, which leads to another building on the left. That
building is under construction. There is also a small park in front of
the white building, which has several trees and lots of autumn
leaves covering the grass. The two young adults are sitting on a
brown bench in the foreground of this image.
The two people both look irritated and they’re not talking to each
other. The man is holding his forehead with both hands and staring
down at the pavement, while the woman has her head in her right
hand and looking in the opposite direction to the man.
They might have just broken up with each other because their body
language looks extremely tense.