Hi friends, today's video is so important because it's all about the rules you must follow when
taking the Duolingo English Test. Now, after you've taken your test, you do not want to receive
an email like this, this or this, saying that your test could not be certified because you didn't
follow all of the rules correctly. It's vital that you understand all of the rules before you take
the test. And that's what this video is about. I'm going to talk about all the rules in three
different categories, the environment, your computer, and a list of things not to do. But very
quickly before I go over those rules. If you're new to my channel, Hi, I'm Luke from D et
ready.com. Head over to that website to find more information, some courses and other useful things
to help you study for this Duolingo English test. Okay, then well, let's start by talking about
these rules. But remember that this Duolingo English test is really awesome, because you can
actually do it from your home, you don't have to go to a test center to take this test. But that
means that you are responsible for following all of the rules that you lingo set out. Because this
test is an official and reliable test, you need to follow the rules correctly. So remember that it is
your responsibility to make sure you follow these rules. Okay, that will let me help you understand
them, we'll start with the environment.
So environment basically means the room you're in, you can do this at home at an office or any way
you want to as long as that room or environment follows the rules that Duolingo set out. If you
head over to the official Duolingo test Guide, which I will link below in the description, you
can see this page.
And this page is aimed to help you prepare your environment. So these are the things you need to
follow. Well, firstly, you can be comfortable. So you can do this test anywhere you want to as long
as it is private. Next, you need to make sure that you're in a very quiet room without much
background noise. And you need to be sure that that room is private, you need to be completely
alone in the room. Those two aspects of the environment are really important, you need to make
sure that the room is quiet. So if you live with people, make sure they know that you're taking a
test and ask them to be quiet for about 60 minutes. Also, you might live in a very loud city.
If that's the case, I suggest finding a quiet time to take the test. Next, you need to make sure that
you are alone in the room, you're not allowed to have any people with you I've seen online, some
people suggest that you should put a mirror behind you to show the rest of your room. But you don't
need to do that. Just make sure you're in a quiet room with no one else. And also importantly is
about how bright the room is.
So the third point here it says that the room should be bright, because the Proctor's will need
to be able to see and hear you clearly throughout the test. So make sure the room isn't too dark. So
this point is really important. The room needs to be really bright, like my room here, so that the
Proctor's the examiners can actually see your face and see your eyes. That way, they can ensure that
you're not cheating. If your room is really dark like this, then the Proctor's or the examiners,
they can't see your face or your eyes, and that way they call to check if you're cheating or not.
So make sure your room is really bright. So that's it with environment, make sure you're in a quiet
room by yourself and it's very well lit. Now let's take a look at your computer.
There are some specific requirements you need in terms of your computer. So let's take a look at
these now by going to the Duolingo test Help Center. Again, I'll put a link to this below in
the description.
So here in terms of your computer, you obviously need a computer, you need reliable internet
connection. And importantly, unimportantly, your computer must have a front facing camera, a
microphone, and speakers.
So you need to make sure that your computer has all of these different features. Modern day
computers, especially laptops usually come with a good webcam, good speakers and a good microphone.
So if your laptop is new, you don't have to worry too much. But if you're using an old laptop or an
old computer, you can use external things like an external webcam, an external keyboard or external
speakers, those are all okay, but you can't use anything that cover your ears. So you can't use a
headset or earphones or anything like that. We'll talk more about that in the rule section. But just let
you know you cannot use anything that covers your years, but you can use external speakers if your
laptop or computer is too quiet. Okay, so that's the computer setup. Now let's look at a list of
things you should not do during the test.
Again, I will use the Duolingo test Help Center to run you through these rules. There's a link to
this below in the description. I highly
I recommend you go and check that out, because it has all the rules like this. And a lot of other
frequently asked questions is a great source of information for you. But let's take a look here at
the different rules.
Okay, so here are the rules, there are a lot as you can see, let's start with the first one, which
we've already talked about, which is that you must be in a quiet, well lit room. We've already talked
about that. So let's move on to the next one. The next one is that your use must be visible and
uncovered and your face must be visible and unobscured. So let's just keep this simple. You
are not allowed to wear anything that covers your face or your yours. So things like headsets,
headphones, and those kind of things. However, if you have to wear some kind of religious
headcoverings, that is okay.
Okay, next one, no outside materials, including mobile phones, notes or textbooks. This is just
like in a normal test center. Of course, when you go to a test center, you can't take your phone or
any extra notes with you. So don't try to hide it. It is quite obvious if you look down at something
where I think some students get confused with this one is that usually when you take a test like the
TOEFL or IELTS, you are allowed to take notes to help you with your answers. But for the Duolingo
English test, you are not allowed to take any notes during the test. So don't bring a pen and
paper if you do your test will not get certified.
Okay, next up, no communication with anyone else. As we talked about before, you are not allowed to
talk to anyone else during the test, make sure you are completely alone in your room.
No writing utensils or paper. So basically no pens or pencils and paper, like I just mentioned, you
are not allowed to take notes during the test. And this one is the most important, do not look away
from the screen. So this is the big one, I received a lot of emails from students, they
another test did not get certified, because they looked away from the screen for too long do you
linger, we'll send you an email like this, if that happens to you. And of course, we don't want this
to happen to you. So you need to make sure that your eyes are either on your screen or your
keyboard at all times during the test, you are allowed to look down when typing. But you have to
make sure that your eyes some somewhere on your screen or your keyboard at all times. Of course,
that's quite hard because you have to take this test for about an hour. And it's quite hard to
look at your screen completely for an hour. But you need to do it. It's one of the rules. And like
I said earlier, you have responsibility, it's your responsibility to make sure you follow the rules.
So just do your best to try to keep your eyes on the screen or your keyboard. Luckily, if you do
look away and your test doesn't get certified, usually Duolingo give you another go for free. But
still we don't want that to happen. So just make sure your eyes are on your screen or your keyboard
at all times. Okay, next up we have Do not leave the test window for any reason. Now this one
happened to me Actually, when I took the test, I moved my mouse cursor a little bit and I went out
of the window and I had to restart the test. Basically your mouse like this
cannot leave the window, it must stay within the test window. So don't move your mouse too much.
Next up we have do not use any predictive input methods. I think this is referring to extra
software like Grammarly, which can help your spelling, you're not allowed to use any software
to assist you on this test.
Next up, do not use any third party web camera software. So make sure you turn that off. And
don't use a second monitor or any software that enables screen sharing or remote access. Of
course, you can't use two monitors because your webcam is usually in front of you. If you have two
monitors, you might look away, which means that you've broken one of the rules on your test won't
get certified. So just use one simple monitor. Keep it simple.
Okay, next up is that you need to speak for at least 30 seconds on the topics presented.
Okay, that's an important one. So for the speaking ones, you need to make sure that you speak for at
least 30 seconds, and your answers need to be related to the topic. If your answers are not
related to the topic, then the examiners might think that you've just memorized the response and
you will fail for that. So make sure that you speak for at least 30 seconds on the topic you are
given.
And next up Do not use another person's name or ID information to take the test. So those are the
rules on the Duolingo test page. But actually, I want to add a couple more some things I've noticed
from my facebook group. Okay, the first one is that you should not memorize answers if Duolingo
think that you have memorized answers for the speaker.
And writing questions, then they're likely to fail you for that. So make sure you don't memorize
answers. It's the same for the IELTS and TOEFL test to the next one is that you should not make
two accounts. Of course, when you take the test, you have to input your ID or password and Duolingo
will match them with your accounts. If you use too, you will get banned. And last one, but very
important one is to do if you wear glasses. Now, this is not a rule. But sometimes if you wear
glasses and you have a light in front of you, there is glare and then the examiners can't see
your eyes. If the examiners can't see your eyes, clearly, they can't tell where you're looking, and
they can't tell if you're looking away to cheat or something. So if you do wear glasses, make sure
the lighting is above you or behind you, and there's no glare in your glasses. Okay, that's it
for me. But remember, I have put some links below to the Duolingo official guide and their help page
where you can read these rules more carefully. I hope this video was helpful. Thanks very much for
watching, and I'll be back next week with a new Duolingo test video. See you then.