IELTS, TOFEL, PTE and now there's the Duolingo English Test! Yes,
that's right the Duolingo app have designed their own
English proficiency test! And believe it or not it's already
accepted by thousands of universities all around the
world. So what is this test? Well, that's the topic of today's video.
I'll talk about the differences between the IELTS, TOFEL
and the Duolingo English Test and then I'll go through each task
that's in the Duolingo English Test but guys if you're new to my channel
hi i'm teacher Luke and I make English videos like this
to help english students like you improve your English
so if this is something you're interested in, hit that subscribe button
and like this video. So what is it? well this new Duolingo English Test is
made specifically for those that need to get an official English
score usually to study at a university or college
it's similar to the IELTS and TOFEL test but
even though this is a really new test, it's accepted by
thousands of universities all around the world. Actually you can go to the
Duolingo Test website and type in the university or college
that you want to attend and check if they accept the Duolingo
Test and it's more than likely that they will
because thousands accept it. So like I said it's similar to the IELTS and TOFEL
test but it does differ in some really
important and really positive ways for English students like
you. So let's talk about those differences
the first difference i think is really important and it is
that you can do this test from anywhere you want! It can be at your home,
in your bedroom, in your living room wherever you want.
You don't have to go to an official test centre to take this exam.
Of course this is a big difference than the IELTS or TOFEL exam
where you usually have to go to a test center for the whole day and take the
exam with lots of people. I know a lot of my students find taking
the exams in a test center very nerve-wracking
which can hurt their score. So being able to take this test (Duolingo English Test) from a place that you
feel comfortable i think is a huge positive.
But of course there are some requirements you need to have good
internet, a good camera, and a good microphone. Of
course they don't need to be professional quality
but they need to be clear enough so the examiners can see you and hear you well.
The second difference is that this test only takes
one hour! That's right just one hour! Compare that to the IELTS test which
takes all day. This new Duolingo Test takes one hour.
You simply log in answer all the questions
and log out all in one hour. And the third
major difference is that this test is so much cheaper
and so much faster. The Duolingo English Test only costs
$50 if you compare that to the IELTS and TOFEL exams
which cost anywhere from $200-300,
this is a much cheaper option. On top of that, you get your results within two
days that's right two days! The IELTS test I
think takes two to three weeks and I know many of my students that take
the ielts test they feel really anxious during that
time, so being able to get your results in just two
days again is another major benefit of the Duolingo English Test, and the
fourth major difference is to do with the speaking part of the
test. In the Duolingo Test you're just talking to your computer
you're not talking to an examiner, which in my opinion makes this test a little
bit easier because I know a lot of students,
even though their English is great, they feel really nervous having a
one-to-one conversation with an examiner that they don't know. So
being able to just talk to your computer I think is another major benefit of this
test (Duolingo English Test). So those were some of the differences
now let's take a look at what this test contain,
I mean what tasks you have to do in the test.
One of the tasks is called the C-test and this is a measure of the test
taker's reading ability. In this task the first and last
sentences are fully intact but the sentences in
between are damaged because the second half of
some of the words are missing. Test takers respond to the
C-test items by completing the damaged words in the paragraph
to do this well test takers need to rely on context
and discourse information to reconstruct the damaged words.
The words can be any type of word type so a noun,
adjective, adverb, etc. The next one is YES/No vocabulary. Here you're
presented with a bunch of different words
some of which are real words and some are pseudo words.
Pseudo words are words that look like English words but they are not they are
meaningless. So your job is simply to select the real
english words
simple right? Well not exactly this task really tests your vocabulary knowledge
so make sure you study up on your vocabulary. Another task
is dictation here you listen to a spoken sentence or a really short passage
and then write it down using the computer. You have to write it word for
word exactly what they say
so this of course tests your listening and writing skills.
For this task you have one minute to complete the dictation
and you can play the audio back up to three times.
This tests your ability to recognize individual words in spoken speech
and hold it in your memory long enough to actually write it out.
Sounds easy, but actually it's pretty challenging. Then you have the read aloud
task this is a test of your reading and
speaking skills it requires you to read understand and
to say a sentence as naturally as possible.
So when you do this task make sure you read each word carefully
paying close attention to the pronunciation and
intonation probably the most difficult task for many students would be the
extended speaking task. Here you're required to respond to four
different tasks one is describing a picture and the
three other are called independent speaking tasks, where you
have to respond to a prompt which is provided to you
in writing or orally. So for the oral one you have to listen and respond.
These tasks require you to speak for an extended period of time
and they test all of your speaking skills, so your pronunciation
your fluency, your grammar, and your vocabulary range.
So be sure to practice many of these different questions before you take the
test (Duolingo English Test). And similar to the extended speaking we
have the extended writing tasks again here you're required to respond to
four different prompts, three of which are describing a picture
and one is another independent task where you'll be given a prompt which you
have to respond to
these tasks are designed to give you the opportunity to demonstrate and show off
all your english writing skills and you're required to
describe, tell a story, or make an argument.
All of which are essential writing skills. Again make sure you practice
writing in all of those different styles. Okay so that's it this was a brief
overview of the new Duolingo English Test. So are you thinking about taking this
test (DET) if you are let me know below in the comments. Okay
that's it from me today i hope this was helpful
and thanks for watching! Bye! :)