Speak About the

Photo Questions:
Avoid These 8
Common Mistakes
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IMAGE SOURCE: Duolingo English Test Readiness, 2021
Speak About the Photo:
High Score Strategy
1. Use lots of descriptive
adjectives and details
2. Be specific to show a wide
vocabulary
3. Use some complex grammar
and vocabulary if possible
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Speak About the Photo:
Quick Tips
1. Imagine you are explaining the picture to a
blind person
2. Speak for at least 45 seconds
3. Keep your voice loud and clear while speaking
at a natural pace
4. Follow a structure

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 Speak About the Photo:
Grading Criteria
● The correctness of your grammar (grammatical accuracy)
● The variety and level of your grammar (grammatical complexity)
● The level of vocabulary used (lexical sophistication)
● The variety of word choice (lexical diversity)
● How well you answer the question that was asked (task relevance)
● How much you can say or write in a limited time (fluency)
● The pronunciation and pace (acoustic features, this one is for
speaking questions only)

QUOTE SOURCE: Duolingo English Test Readiness, 2021 www.tstprep.com

Speak About the Photo:
Avoid These Eight Mistakes
1. Keeping the same grammar structure.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

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 Speak About the Photo:
Grading Criteria
● The correctness of your grammar (grammatical accuracy)
● The variety and level of your grammar (grammatical complexity)
● The level of vocabulary used (lexical sophistication)
● The variety of word choice (lexical diversity)
● How well you answer the question that was asked (task relevance)
● How much you can say or write in a limited time (fluency)
● The pronunciation and pace (acoustic features, this one is for
speaking questions only)

QUOTE SOURCE: Duolingo English Test Readiness, 2021 www.tstprep.com

- This is a picture of a woman.
- She is holding something in her
hands.
- There are many things in the
back.
- She is probably at work.

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The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist looking
down and concentrating on some kind of metal tray.
She is wearing a white lab coat and latex gloves,
which I assume is to ensure cleanliness. Next to her
is an empty pill bottle and a large white bag labeled
cotton balls. In the background, there are hundreds
of bottles of pills stacked and organized on different
shelves. This must be a pharmacy and she is one of
the pharmacists in charge of filling orders. It looks
like she is filling someone’s prescription, preparing
the pills and getting ready to move them to the
bottle. She must have gone to school for a long time
to earn a degree where she could work at a job with
so much responsibility. This must be a stressful job
since a single mistake could cost someone their life.
I can also see a dark red cabinet to the right of the
image, which must be where they keep their
ingredients.

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Speak About the Photo:
Avoid These Eight Mistakes
1. Keeping the same grammar structure.
2. Speaking for only 30 seconds.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

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 Speak About the Photo:
Grading Criteria
● The correctness of your grammar (grammatical accuracy)
● The variety and level of your grammar (grammatical complexity)
● The level of vocabulary used (lexical sophistication)
● The variety of word choice (lexical diversity)
● How well you answer the question that was asked (task relevance)
● How much you can say or write in a limited time (fluency)
● The pronunciation and pace (acoustic features, this one is for
speaking questions only)

QUOTE SOURCE: Duolingo English Test Readiness, 2021 www.tstprep.com

Your final word
count should be
between 100 - 200
words. (closer to 200)

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Speak About the Photo:
Avoid These Eight Mistakes
1. Keeping the same grammar structure.
2. Speaking for only 30 seconds.
3. Listing out information rather than organizing it into a structure.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

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- Behind the woman there are a
bunch of pill bottles on shelves.
- Next to her is a big bag of
cotton balls.
- The woman is looking down.
- She is holding a metal tray.
- There is a sink behind her too.

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Speak About the Photo:
The Structure
1. Describe the foreground (people, objects,
and actions)
2.
3.
4.

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The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist
looking down and concentrating on some kind of
metal tray. She is wearing a white lab coat and
latex gloves, which I assume is to ensure
cleanliness.

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Speak About the Photo:
The Structure
1. Describe the foreground (people, objects,
and actions)
2. Describe the location
3.
4.

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The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist
looking down and concentrating on some kind of
metal tray. She is wearing a white lab coat and
latex gloves, which I assume is to ensure
cleanliness. Next to her is an empty pill bottle and
a large white bag labeled cotton balls. In the
background, there are hundreds of bottles of pills
stacked and organized on different shelves.

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Speak About the Photo:
The Structure
1. Describe the foreground (people, objects,
and actions)
2. Describe the location
3. Make inferences about the past, present,
or future
4.

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The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist
looking down and concentrating on some kind of
metal tray. She is wearing a white lab coat and
latex gloves, which I assume is to ensure
cleanliness. Next to her is an empty pill bottle and
a large white bag labeled cotton balls. In the
background, there are hundreds of bottles of pills
stacked and organized on different shelves. This
must be a pharmacy and she is one of the
pharmacists in charge of filling orders. It looks like
she is filling someone’s prescription, preparing the
pills and getting ready to move them to the bottle.
She must have gone to school for a long time to
earn a degree where she could work at a job with
so much responsibility. This must be a stressful job
since a single mistake could cost someone their
life.

www.tstprep.com
Speak About the Photo:
The Structure
1. Describe the foreground (people, objects,
and actions)
2. Describe the location
3. Make inferences about the past, present,
or future
4. Provide additional details

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The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist
looking down and concentrating on some kind of
metal tray. She is wearing a white lab coat and
latex gloves, which I assume is to ensure
cleanliness. Next to her is an empty pill bottle and
a large white bag labeled cotton balls. In the
background, there are hundreds of bottles of pills
stacked and organized on different shelves. This
must be a pharmacy and she is one of the
pharmacists in charge of filling orders. It looks like
she is filling someone’s prescription, preparing the
pills and getting ready to move them to the bottle.
She must have gone to school for a long time to
earn a degree where she could work at a job with
so much responsibility. I can also see a dark red
cabinet to the right of the image, which must be
where they keep their ingredients.

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A structure will
help you naturally
let one idea flow
into another.

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Speak About the Photo:
Avoid These Eight Mistakes
1. Keeping the same grammar structure.
2. Speaking for only 30 seconds.
3. Listing out information rather than organizing it into a structure.
4. Using repetitive vocabulary and a general lack of description.
5. Including too much general vocabulary. You need to be specific.
6.
7.
8.

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 Speak About the Photo:
Grading Criteria
● The correctness of your grammar (grammatical accuracy)
● The variety and level of your grammar (grammatical complexity)
● The level of vocabulary used (lexical sophistication)
● The variety of word choice (lexical diversity)
● How well you answer the question that was asked (task relevance)
● How much you can say or write in a limited time (fluency)
● The pronunciation and pace (acoustic features, this one is for
speaking questions only)

QUOTE SOURCE: Duolingo English Test Readiness, 2021 www.tstprep.com

- This is a picture of a woman.
- She is holding something in her
hands.
- There are many things in the
back.
- She is probably at work.

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Be specific!

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The Seven Deadly Words
● Nice
● Good
● Bad
● Thing
● Happy
● Sad
● You

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 The Seven Deadly Words
The Word The Problem An Example
“Nice” is too general. It gives little to no He is a nice guy.
nice information about the noun being described. He always thinks about other people’s feelings.

“Good” is a weak adjective. There are much That was a good movie.
good better ways to describe something. That might have been the best movie I’ve ever seen.

“Bad” is a weak adjective. There are much He is a bad person.

bad better ways to describe something. He would stab his own mother in the back for a promotion.

“Thing” creates no picture in the reader’s mind. We talked about many things.
thing You must strive to be more specific. We talked about how lonely I have been since he died.

“Happy” is a weak adjective. There are much Pizza makes me happy.

happy better ways to describe something. I overflow with joy at the sight of pizza.

“Sad” is a weak adjective. There are much I am sad.

sad better ways to describe something. I feel like a slave to my thoughts.

“You” sometimes sounds awkward. Avoid You should lose weight.

you www.tstprep.com
directly addressing the reader. After losing 20 pounds, my self-confidence skyrocketed.
The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist
looking down and concentrating on some kind of
metal tray. She is wearing a white lab coat and
latex gloves, which I assume is to ensure
cleanliness. Next to her is an empty pill bottle and
a large white bag labeled cotton balls. In the
background, there are hundreds of bottles of pills
stacked and organized on different shelves. This
must be a pharmacy and she is one of the
pharmacists in charge of filling orders. It looks like
she is filling someone’s prescription, preparing the
pills and getting ready to move them to the bottle.
She must have gone to school for a long time to
earn a degree where she could work at a job with
so much responsibility. I can also see a dark red
cabinet to the right of the image, which must be
where they keep their ingredients.

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Be descriptive!

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The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist
looking down and concentrating on some kind of
metal tray. She is wearing a white lab coat and
latex gloves, which I assume is to ensure
cleanliness. Next to her is an empty pill bottle and
a large white bag labeled cotton balls. In the
background, there are hundreds of bottles of pills
stacked and organized on different shelves. This
must be a pharmacy and she is one of the
pharmacists in charge of filling orders. It looks like
she is filling someone’s prescription, preparing the
pills and getting ready to move them to the bottle.
She must have gone to school for a long time to
earn a degree where she could work at a job with
so much responsibility. I can also see a dark red
cabinet to the right of the image, which must be
where they keep their ingredients.

www.tstprep.com
Speak About the Photo:
Avoid These Eight Mistakes
1. Keeping the same grammar structure.
2. Speaking for only 30 seconds.
3. Listing out information rather than organizing it into a structure.
4. Using repetitive vocabulary and a general lack of description.
5. Including too much general vocabulary. You need to be specific.
6. Staring at the clock. (or ignoring the clock)
7.
8.

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 www.tstprep.com
IMAGE SOURCE: Duolingo English Test Readiness, 2021
Try to notice the
clock only two or
three times while
you speak.

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Speak About the Photo:
Avoid These Eight Mistakes
1. Keeping the same grammar structure.
2. Speaking for only 30 seconds.
3. Listing out information rather than organizing it into a structure.
4. Using repetitive vocabulary and a general lack of description.
5. Including too much general vocabulary. You need to be specific.
6. Staring at the clock. (or ignoring the clock)
7. Pausing too much and using too many vocal fillers.
8.

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 Speak About the Photo:
Grading Criteria
● The correctness of your grammar (grammatical accuracy)
● The variety and level of your grammar (grammatical complexity)
● The level of vocabulary used (lexical sophistication)
● The variety of word choice (lexical diversity)
● How well you answer the question that was asked (task relevance)
● How much you can say or write in a limited time (fluency)
● The pronunciation and pace (acoustic features, this one is for
speaking questions only)

QUOTE SOURCE: Duolingo English Test Readiness, 2021 www.tstprep.com

The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist
looking down and concentrating on some kind of
metal tray. She is wearing a white lab coat and
latex gloves, which I assume is to ensure
cleanliness. Next to her is an empty pill bottle and
a large white bag labeled cotton balls. In the
background, there are hundreds of bottles of pills
stacked and organized on different shelves. This
must be a pharmacy and she is one of the
pharmacists in charge of filling orders. It looks like
she is filling someone’s prescription, preparing the
pills and getting ready to move them to the bottle.
She must have gone to school for a long time to
earn a degree where she could work at a job with
so much responsibility. I can also see a dark red
cabinet to the right of the image, which must be
where they keep their ingredients.

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Vocal fillers are
natural. Aim to have
less than five in a
response between
60 - 90 seconds.

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Speak About the Photo:
Avoid These Eight Mistakes
1. Keeping the same grammar structure.
2. Speaking for only 30 seconds.
3. Listing out information rather than organizing it into a structure.
4. Using repetitive vocabulary and a general lack of description.
5. Including too much general vocabulary. You need to be specific.
6. Staring at the clock. (or ignoring the clock)
7. Pausing too much and using too many vocal fillers.
8. Speaking at a natural and comfortable pace. (no robot voice)

www.tstprep.com
 Speak About the Photo:
Grading Criteria
● The correctness of your grammar (grammatical accuracy)
● The variety and level of your grammar (grammatical complexity)
● The level of vocabulary used (lexical sophistication)
● The variety of word choice (lexical diversity)
● How well you answer the question that was asked (task relevance)
● How much you can say or write in a limited time (fluency)
● The pronunciation and pace (acoustic features, this one is for
speaking questions only)

QUOTE SOURCE: Duolingo English Test Readiness, 2021 www.tstprep.com

The first thing I notice is a young pharmacist
looking down and concentrating on some kind of
metal tray. She is wearing a white lab coat and
latex gloves, which I assume is to ensure
cleanliness. Next to her is an empty pill bottle and
a large white bag labeled cotton balls. In the
background, there are hundreds of bottles of pills
stacked and organized on different shelves. This
must be a pharmacy and she is one of the
pharmacists in charge of filling orders. It looks like
she is filling someone’s prescription, preparing the
pills and getting ready to move them to the bottle.
She must have gone to school for a long time to
earn a degree where she could work at a job with
so much responsibility. I can also see a dark red
cabinet to the right of the image, which must be
where they keep their ingredients.

www.tstprep.com
Speak About the Photo:
Avoid These Eight Mistakes
1. Keeping the same grammar structure.
2. Speaking for only 30 seconds.
3. Listing out information rather than organizing it into a structure.
4. Using repetitive vocabulary and a general lack of description.
5. Including too much general vocabulary. You need to be specific.
6. Staring at the clock. (or ignoring the clock)
7. Pausing too much and using too many vocal fillers.
8. Speaking at a natural and comfortable pace. (no robot voice)

www.tstprep.com