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DUOLINGO: Everything You Need to Know About the Test.

The Duolingo English Test (DET) is an online, computer-based English language proficiency test designed to assess a test-taker's skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. It is commonly used by universities and institutions as an alternative to standardized tests like TOEFL and IELTS, especially since it can be taken from home. The test is adaptive, meaning that the difficulty of questions changes based on the test-taker's responses, aiming to provide a more accurate assessment of their proficiency.

Structure of the Duolingo English Test

The test is divided into three main sections:

1. Introduction and Setup (5 minutes):

This is the initial part where you verify your identity, take a photo, show your ID, and complete any setup steps.

There is a brief walkthrough of the test’s rules, which include ensuring you’re alone in a quiet room and that there are no interruptions.

2. Adaptive Test (45 minutes):

This is the core section where questions adjust in difficulty as you answer.

The test covers a range of skills with various question types:

Reading and Sentence Completion: Fill in missing letters or words in a passage.

Dictation and Listen-to-Write: Listen to a sentence and type what you hear.

Speaking: Describe an image or respond to a prompt.

Writing: Write a response to a question, usually with a word limit of around 50-100 words.

C-test: Complete words in a paragraph with missing letters.

These questions are randomly ordered and vary in difficulty, adapting based on the test-taker’s performance.

3. Video Interview and Writing Sample (10 minutes):

After the adaptive section, this ungraded section lets you showcase your speaking and writing skills further.

Video Interview: You’ll answer one prompt by speaking on camera for 1-3 minutes.

Writing Sample: Write a response (up to 5 minutes) based on a prompt.

Both the video and writing sample are shared with institutions alongside your scores, helping to provide a more holistic view of your language abilities.

Scoring and Results

The Duolingo English Test uses a 160-point scoring scale, with scores available in 48 hours.

The score report includes an overall score and sub-scores for Literacy, Conversation, Comprehension, and Production.

The Duolingo English Test is known for its convenience, cost-effectiveness, and fast results, making it popular among students and institutions worldwide.


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