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Duolingo English Test (DET) Free
Information, Practice Test Links & Tips
I have provided this page as a way of getting the advice and tips from more reputable websites and YouTube videos for those who prefer more audio means of studying. Continue to use Google for a good many more sites but be careful not to overload things and try to keep the information manageable.
The first step for anyone preparing for the Duolingo English test (DET) is to take the completely free practice test on the Duolingo website which also estimates score. Unfortunately, you have to do these tests on a laptop or desktop (not a mobile phone) and you need a stable internet connection of at least 2 MbPS cannot take these tests on mobile phone. You must have a Chrome/Opera browser (not Firefox or Microsoft Edge), webcam, microphone and speaker (not earphones.). Even in the practice test DET will let you know if you are lacking any of the above.
The practice test is a must because there you will see of you lack any of the technical requirements. However, you will still need to know the rules so please look through the rules and technical requirements.
Also, be aware that the practice test has the same type of questions and timing but not the same number of questions. It is just 15 minutes, while the actual test is from 45–60 minutes. That is because the practice test will only give you 1 or 2 questions from each type while the real test will have more questions.
Here’s the great thing about the practice test on Duolingo. You can keep taking them and they will be different questions but eventually they may be repeated so you can just log in on another day and get some new questions. In other words, the practice test are a random pick from a data bank that gets scrambled much like you do when you choose shuffle on your playlists.
The Official Guide for Test Takers offers some very helpful starting tips on certain issues with each type of questions but it is obviously incomplete for strategies.
There is as always occurs a lot of garbage on the internet on the DET, much of it trying to sell you something, but there are a few reliable and accurate sites that give you some practice as well. The best I’ve seen is from Logic Prep Blog It puts out good information liked to the official site and all on one page with some practice tests. There is one mistake on it – the author says the setup is 10 minutes but it is actually 5 minutes and the adaptive section is 45 minutes not 25 minutes. Other than that minor point, the information on this blog about the DET is quite accurate and the practice test is nicely set up.
Magoosh, in a page on whether the DET is right for you, interestingly under a TOEFL Blog and offers some good comparison to TOEFL and helps you to decide whether to choose it or not.
The Language Gallery gives a sample of the questions used and then under a vocabulary and tips site a series of links to various articles written to help prepare for the DET. For example, there is a top tips posting – it is nothing brilliant and some of it is the typical banal, duh stuff like “Focus on your Listening Skills” but it does give some good general guidelines to put together a rounded program of preparation.
YouTube is ahead of websites on DET preparation, even showing you a full Duolingo Test in 45 minutes by Leda Comiso
To their credit VMARS Consultancy has offered some decent enough 45 minute Duolingo tests on YouTube
There is a YouTube video of a webinar done by the DET organization through Applyboard. It is a good source – not much different from the official guide but you can listen instead of read it and there is also additional information brought out by listener questions.
Also, if you would like a walk through the whole process without yet taking the practice test, try this YouTube video put out by the DET. Stop it at various points because it moves pretty fast through the stages.
EZApply International has a good YouTube site that is honest and accurate. Although it repeats much of what is said in the Duolingo Webinar and Guidebook, it does get into some of the particular challenges in this test that are not discussed in the Webinar.
Without naming the rest, be careful about not spending all your time with ‘method’ videos because burnout and false confidence can result. Most of these DET method videos put out by so-called experts are just slick, over-hyped methods. They can be a pure waste of time, giving you strategies even a 10-year-old could come up with and labelling them as “Super Methods” based on conjecture of what an examiner is after.
Also, some of the practice tests posted on YouTube are much easier than the real one and it can give you false confidence. Take them for practice but avoid using them to assess your level. The only ones that do that accurately are those provided by DET.
Experienced tutors will let you now that it can be harmful to over-rely on ‘expert’ strategies and that the better alternative is to develop the strategies that work best for you and let an expert assess you as you do it offering alternatives.
The first step for anyone preparing for the Duolingo English test (DET) is to take the completely free practice test on the Duolingo website which also estimates score. Unfortunately, you have to do these tests on a laptop or desktop (not a mobile phone) and you need a stable internet connection of at least 2 MbPS cannot take these tests on mobile phone. You must have a Chrome/Opera browser (not Firefox or Microsoft Edge), webcam, microphone and speaker (not earphones.). Even in the practice test DET will let you know if you are lacking any of the above.
The practice test is a must because there you will see of you lack any of the technical requirements. However, you will still need to know the rules so please look through the rules and technical requirements.
Also, be aware that the practice test has the same type of questions and timing but not the same number of questions. It is just 15 minutes, while the actual test is from 45–60 minutes. That is because the practice test will only give you 1 or 2 questions from each type while the real test will have more questions.
Here’s the great thing about the practice test on Duolingo. You can keep taking them and they will be different questions but eventually they may be repeated so you can just log in on another day and get some new questions. In other words, the practice test are a random pick from a data bank that gets scrambled much like you do when you choose shuffle on your playlists.
The Official Guide for Test Takers offers some very helpful starting tips on certain issues with each type of questions but it is obviously incomplete for strategies.
There is as always occurs a lot of garbage on the internet on the DET, much of it trying to sell you something, but there are a few reliable and accurate sites that give you some practice as well. The best I’ve seen is from Logic Prep Blog It puts out good information liked to the official site and all on one page with some practice tests. There is one mistake on it – the author says the setup is 10 minutes but it is actually 5 minutes and the adaptive section is 45 minutes not 25 minutes. Other than that minor point, the information on this blog about the DET is quite accurate and the practice test is nicely set up.
Magoosh, in a page on whether the DET is right for you, interestingly under a TOEFL Blog and offers some good comparison to TOEFL and helps you to decide whether to choose it or not.
The Language Gallery gives a sample of the questions used and then under a vocabulary and tips site a series of links to various articles written to help prepare for the DET. For example, there is a top tips posting – it is nothing brilliant and some of it is the typical banal, duh stuff like “Focus on your Listening Skills” but it does give some good general guidelines to put together a rounded program of preparation.
YouTube is ahead of websites on DET preparation, even showing you a full Duolingo Test in 45 minutes by Leda Comiso
To their credit VMARS Consultancy has offered some decent enough 45 minute Duolingo tests on YouTube
There is a YouTube video of a webinar done by the DET organization through Applyboard. It is a good source – not much different from the official guide but you can listen instead of read it and there is also additional information brought out by listener questions.
Also, if you would like a walk through the whole process without yet taking the practice test, try this YouTube video put out by the DET. Stop it at various points because it moves pretty fast through the stages.
EZApply International has a good YouTube site that is honest and accurate. Although it repeats much of what is said in the Duolingo Webinar and Guidebook, it does get into some of the particular challenges in this test that are not discussed in the Webinar.
Without naming the rest, be careful about not spending all your time with ‘method’ videos because burnout and false confidence can result. Most of these DET method videos put out by so-called experts are just slick, over-hyped methods. They can be a pure waste of time, giving you strategies even a 10-year-old could come up with and labelling them as “Super Methods” based on conjecture of what an examiner is after.
Also, some of the practice tests posted on YouTube are much easier than the real one and it can give you false confidence. Take them for practice but avoid using them to assess your level. The only ones that do that accurately are those provided by DET.
Experienced tutors will let you now that it can be harmful to over-rely on ‘expert’ strategies and that the better alternative is to develop the strategies that work best for you and let an expert assess you as you do it offering alternatives.
Duolingo English Test tip #1: Being self-reflective
Here is my first Duolingo English Test tip #1: Being self-reflective about your current appraoch: How to develop your own strategies while doing the practice tests:
A tutor will introduce more strategies for you but you can begin this process even before a tutorial. While doing the practice tests monitor your progress and be self reflective.
The important issue is to monitor your progress and see:
Make note of how you are doing on all question types before a approaching a tutor so you avoid a dependency trap. Often you have the correct approach for yourself but you may not have given it time to materialize. There is also nothing wrong with telling tutor that you want to skip certain types of questions that you do not feel is a problem anymore.
A tutor will introduce more strategies for you but you can begin this process even before a tutorial. While doing the practice tests monitor your progress and be self reflective.
The important issue is to monitor your progress and see:
- What types of questions give you most problems (information you want to give to a tutor)
- What strategies seem to work so far?
- Which questions you don’t have a clear strategy for yet?
- Which questions you think you need to spend more time on in a tutorial (you can always change the program in a tutorial – you’re the customer)?
- How much can a wrong or less than satisfactory question response be attributed to grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation?
- In the longer response questions, what forms of struggle hesitation do I hear from my voice as I listen to myself?
Make note of how you are doing on all question types before a approaching a tutor so you avoid a dependency trap. Often you have the correct approach for yourself but you may not have given it time to materialize. There is also nothing wrong with telling tutor that you want to skip certain types of questions that you do not feel is a problem anymore.
Specific Tips based on Question Types
I will give some advice and links to specific type of questions based on the principle that you need to monitor your progress and try out alternative strategies yourself.
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If you are looking for strategies for the shorter more specific skill question namely:
1. Fill in blank (ie C-test) 2. Select real words (reading) 3. Select real words (listening) 4. Type statement you hear 5. Read aloud statement shown Please go into my page on DET question types 1-5 |
.If you are looking for the more detailed response questions
6. Describe Image 7. Describe Image 8. Read and write 9. Read and Speak 10. Listen and speak 11. Sample Speaking 12. Sample Writing Please go into my page on DET question types 1-5 |