Hi friends, in this video, we're going to talk about 21 phrases you
can use to improve your writing on the Duolingo English test so
quickly before we start that if you're new to this channel Hi, I'm
Teacher Luke from www.detready.com. Visit our website because we have
lots of tools and information to help you prepare for this Duolingo
English test. Okay, so the first category of phrases we're going to
study today is all to do with opinions. Now on the Duolingo
English test, you may be required to give your opinion about a topic
on the writing question. So it's important you know how to talk
about your opinion, clearly. And academically, most students would
just say, in my opinion, which is totally fine. But here are some
other phrases you can use, which are probably more advanced. So one
easy phrase you can use is from my point of view, or in my view, you
could also say I'm inclined to believe that or my impression is
that another good one is, in my perspective, now these are all
really useful ways to share your opinion on the Duolingo English
test. And in my point of view, they are better than using in my
opinion, especially if you're sharing your opinion more than
once. You don't want to repeat yourself or practice using these
ones. Instead, let me show you some full examples. From my point of
view, governments and local authorities should ban fast food
companies from advertising to young people. Another good way to give
your opinion is to talk about the opposite opinion first, and then
use a word like however to share your opinion something like this.
Some people argue that however, in my perspective, in a full example,
some people argue that children should be allowed to eat whatever
they want. However, I'm inclined to believe that children's diets need
to be closely supervised. Okay, now let's talk about how you can
develop or extend your ideas on this test. It's important on this
writing question not just to give your opinion and then move on.
Instead, you do want to develop and extend your idea. And a good way to
do this is to mention a similar point that's similar to your
opinion. So what are some phrases you can use to do that, let's take
a look here. In addition, or additionally, moreover, adding to
my previous points, another good one is not only but also, as I
mentioned, on the exam, you want to extend your answers as much as
possible, because it shows the examiners that you're able to talk
about all of your opinions well in English, and these phrases are a
great way to extend your opinions. And here are some example ideas of
how to use them. In addition, children who eat a lot of fast food
are more at risk from serious health issues. Another example, not
only is fast food unhealthy for children, but it can also cause
serious health issues. Not only but also is a great way to extend your
ideas, because in the not only section of the sentence, you
mentioned your previous idea and then after but also you mentioned
your new idea. On top of that it adds a lot of emphasis to your
writing, which is also a good thing to do. Another great idea to extend
your answers is by adding examples. And as a teacher myself, when I see
my students give examples, I think that's fantastic. However, I see a
lot of the phrase for example, of course, that phrase is great to use
once, maybe twice. But if you're given lots of examples in your
writing, then you want to use different phrases. So instead of
for example, you can use for instance, to give a clear example
or a clear example of this is you could also use to illustrate these
phrases are great to use instead of for example, let's look at some
full sentences, and then I'll talk a bit more about them. A clear
example of this is heart disease. Since children who eat a lot of
fast food are more prone to heart related health issues later in
life. To illustrate, a recent study found that children who eat fast
food on a daily basis have 15% more likely to have heart related issues
when they become adults. To illustrate is normally followed by
a statistic or a number. If you noticed in my example, I said 15%
That refers to the statistic I'm talking about. You might also want
to know that you don't have to use accurate statistics in your exam,
you can just make them up like I did here. I didn't know that I just
wrote it off the top of my head, it's probably not true, but that's
fine. This test is a test of your English knowledge, not your ability
to memorize facts and figures. Next up we have talking about a
condition a condition basically means if something happens first,
then something else can happen. set conditions mostly start with the
word F so if you know the F grammatical structures, you know
how to use a conditional sentence, but not all conditions start with a
word f you can use other phrases as well. After F probably the most
common is provided that you can also use as long as and the
negative condition is unless these phrases work in exactly the same
way as if sentences they signal that something should happen before
something else happens next, let me show you what I mean. Provided that
children eat a balanced diet. Having one or two fast food meals
per week should not cause any health issues.
Unless government's ban fast food companies advertising to children
health issues among the young will continue to increase. And of
course, we should look at phrases for Endian your answer her
conclusion. In this exam I sometimes see students write in a
nutshell. Or finally, and these are not acceptable for a conclusion in
an academic essay, they are too informal. The best ones to use for
an academic essay are these ones here.
I would always play it safe and just use one of these three phrases
to conclude your essay. No one is going to disagree with these
phrases. Okay, now you need to practice your writing. And this is
the video here you need for that. I'll see you there. Bye.
Hi friends. In this video, we're going to talk about 21 phrases you
can use to immediately improve your speaking on the Duolingo English
test. Now these phrases are helpful, because they'll help you
sound a lot more natural, make your answer sound more logical and help
you speak for longer. And we will start in just one second. But if
you're new here Hi, I'm Teacher Luke from detready.com. Visit our
website to find useful tools and information to help you prepare for
the Duolingo English test. Okay, then well, let's get started with
today's lesson. I'm going to teach you these phrases by going through
an answer for one of the speaking questions on the practice Duolingo
English test. And this is the question we'll look at today.
Discuss public assistance offered to low income families in your
country. What kind of assistance is offered? Who can benefit? What are
some of the positive and negative results of these programs? So this
is the question we're going to answer. When you get a question
like this on the Duolingo English test. It's good to begin your talk
by using an introductory phrase, basically a phrase that will
introduce the topic, these are a great way to begin your talk
because they make you sound a lot more logical. And they give you a
couple more seconds to think about your ideas. Let me show you some of
these introductory phrases. You can use phrases like this. Today I'd
like to talk about in this talk, I'm going to describe explain, I
would like to talk about I'm going to tell you about all of these
types of phrases are called introductory phrases, and they're
great for introducing the topic. So here's an example in full. Today,
I'd like to talk about the different types of housing
assistance low income families get in my country. Another example. In
this talk, I'm going to describe the different types of housing
assistance low income families get in my country. So as you can see,
using an introductory phrase like this can help you sound a lot more
logical, and it's a great way to begin your answers. Now let's take
a look back at the question we're answering today, you might notice
that there are actually three different questions Duolingo ask
you this is very common on the read 10 Speak question type on the test.
And I strongly recommend that you answer each of these questions
because it will give you more things to talk about and help you
speak for longer. And it is important how you transition from
question to question. There are different phrases you can use to
move from first to second to third, let me show you some of those
phrases here. For example, in regard to the first question,
turning to the second question, or as for the final question. So you
can use these three phrases to move from the first, second and third
questions. And I think they're a great way to transition and also
means that you don't have to link the ideas together to go from
question to question, you can kind of begin a new idea by using one of
these phrases. On top of that if you want to go back to a question,
if you have time or you have new ideas, you can use a phrase like
this. Returning to the first question or returning to the second
question. Now let me show you a full example. In regard to the
first question, low income families are entitled to several types of
housing assistance, but the most common I believe is rental
assistance, where families can receive a grant to help pay their rent.
As for the final question, I strongly believe that support for
low income families is essential, especially for families who have
children. Returning to the second question, I would like to add that
low income families are not the only ones who can receive
government support, but also the elderly and people with
disabilities can receive similar assistance. These types of
transitional phrases from question to question are a great way to make
your answer sound a lot more logical, and it makes it easier for
you to move to another question. Personally, I recommend you use
these when you do the speaking question on the Duolingo test. Also
on the Duolingo speaking questions, you are required to give your
opinion from time to time and there are lots of different phrases you
can use to give your opinion. Of course, the most common one is in
my opinion, but you don't want to use that one all the time. You can
use some different ones. So let's look at some different ways to
express your opinions. Now. You could say something like, I'm
inclined to believe that from my point of view, or from my
perspective
My impression is that, as far as I'm concerned, the way I see it. So
these are five different phrases you can use instead of, in my
opinion, and are probably better, you'll probably get a higher score
if you use one of these phrases on any English exam, of course, in my
opinion is not wrong, you just don't want to use it all the time.
Now I'll show you a few quick examples and how you can use these
phrases in your answers.
Here's a full example. I'm inclined to believe that housing assistance
is essential for many low income families, especially families with
young children. Another example, as far as I'm concerned, housing
assistance is vital for many struggling families. And a third
example, the way I see it, housing assistance is an important benefit
for families who are struggling economically. Being able to give
your opinion effectively on the Duolingo test is really important.
And these phrases can help you a lot. Now next up after you've given
your opinion, you want to back it up with some examples. And nearly
all the students I teach use the same phrase to show that they're
going to give an example. Of course they say, for example, but there
are lots of different ones you can use. And the more variety of
phrases you use in your answer will lead to a better score. So let me
show you some different phrases you can use to give examples here. For
instance, a great example of this is, let me share an example. An
instance from my life that springs to mind is given examples like this
is a great way to develop your answer. And that's really important
too. And like I said earlier, it's a good idea not to use the same
phrase over and over again. So don't just use the phrase, for
example, many times instead use these, let's see how they can be
used in a full sentence.
For instance, families who are eligible for housing assistance can
receive monthly grants to help pay for their rent, as well as food
stamps to cover the cost of groceries. And if you want to give
a personal example, a example from your experience, you could say
something like this.
An instance from my life that springs to mind is when my best
friend's mother and father both lost their jobs, and they had to
rely on government benefits for a short time to afford their
groceries and pay their energy bills.
It's very important to remember that when you do the speaking
question on the Duolingo test, that you have to develop your ideas,
that means go beyond just giving your opinion. But given a reason or
an example why using phrases like the ones I just showed you are a
great way to give examples. Okay, now we've spoken a lot about this
question, it's time to conclude our answer. Many of my students use
phrases like In conclusion, or to sum up to conclude their answer,
which is totally fine. But as always, I want to show you more
variety of different phrases you can use. So here are some more
phrases you can use to conclude your answer. You can say something
like to wrap this talk up. The summarize my opinion quickly. So
that's why to make a long story short,
I don't recommend you use these phrases for writing. They are a bit
informal for that, but they are totally fine for any type of
speaking by nature speaking is a lot more informal. So phrases like
this are totally fine. Let's see some examples of them.
To wrap up this talk, although some people argue that my government are
too generous with the assistance they offer to low income families.
I believe it's essential that they continue offering this type of
support. Okay, that's it. Those were 21 phrases you can use now I
recommend you watch this speaking video next. It will help you to
organize your answer. Okay, see you there.