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Duolingo English Test
Duolingo English Test
Duolingo English Test
Choose the real words from a written list - In this task you are given a
list of words, some real and some made up and asked to choose only
the correct ones. Top Tip! Be careful with choosing the correct word
and make sure you check the spelling as some words look like they
might be correct but in fact are made up!
Type the statement that you hear – a simple task of writing what you
hear with the option to repeat the audio 3 times. Here you are being
tested on your listening comprehension, vocabulary and spelling
skills. Top Tip! The accents that you hear are American, if you’re not
familiar with this accent then start watching American TV and film or
listening to an American podcast.
Record yourself saying a given statement – this task is all about your
pronunciation of individual words but also your sentence stress and
intonation knowledge. Remember that English is a stress timed
language which means that some syllables will be longer or shorter
unlike other languages such as Spanish, French or Cantonese for
example. Top Tip! Record yourself saying short sentences and listening
back to them to see if you can improve your pronunciation. You can
check online for specific pronunciation of words you are practicing to
make sure they are correct.
Speak the English word for each image – This time instead of being
given a word to pronounce you are being tested on your vocabulary
knowledge as well as your general pronunciation. If you are unsure of
the word for what you are seeing, you can always take a guess. Top
Tip! You are not penalized for making wrong answers so always have
a guess if you don’t know!
Write at least 1 sentence about the given image - This task is asking
you to think about your writing structures using descriptive language.
You will need to write complete sentences that have appropriate
punctuation and give the reader an idea of what is being shown in the
picture. Top Tip! The more you are able to write in the short amount
of time given, the higher mark you would receive.
o C-test - The c-tests provide a measure of the test takers’ reading ability.
In this task, the first and last sentences are fully intact, while words in
the intervening sentences are “damaged” by deleting the second half of
the word. Test takers respond to the c-test items by completing the
damaged words in the paragraph.
o Extended Writing - The extended writing tasks are measures of the test
takers writing English abilities. Test takers respond to four writing
prompts that require extended responses: three picture description
tasks and one independent task with a written prompt. Similar to the
speaking tasks, these are drawn from different levels of difficulty
conditional on the estimated ability level of the test taker. The stimuli
in the picture description tasks were selected by people with graduate
level degrees in applied linguistics. They are designed to give test takers
the opportunity to display their full range of written language abilities.
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.
Score interpretation
The Duolingo English Test is designed to assess real-world language ability,
by measuring reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. Each test taker's
proficiency is reported as a holistic score on a scale from 10 – 160.
10 – 55 :-
60 – 85 :-
Can describe experiences, ambitions, opinions, and plans, although with some
awkwardness or hesitation.
90 – 115 :-
Can understand the main ideas of both concrete and abstract writing.
120 – 160 :-
Can use language flexibly and effectively for most social, academic, and
professional purposes.
Score Comparison
Duolingo IELTS
10 1.5
15 2
20 – 25 2.5
30 – 40 3
45 – 50 3.5
55 – 60 4
65 – 70 4.5
75 – 80 5
85 – 90 5.5
95 – 100 6
115 – 120 7
135 – 140 8
155 – 160 9