Getting our desired scores in English proficiency tests such as IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, PTE, and DET is hard. Even though they are entirely different English tests and different question formats, they have one thing in common – test your four English skills, including Speaking, Writing, Reading, and Listening.
Additionally, there is concordance among all English proficiency test scores such as IELTS, TOEFL, and DET as follows. So, if we want to aim for high scores on any tests, we will need to build our English skills in general initially. By doing so, it’s easy to get our DET Ready.
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Regarding Speaking and Writing, English proficiency tests evaluate our skills based on Lexical Sophistication and Diversity. In other words, the higher levels and more diverse words or phrases we use, the higher scores we get. Therefore, test-takers should learn different types and high level words to achieve high scores, including collocations and idioms.
There are two sources and ways to improve your vocabulary bank.
1. Speak English Like An American – Amy Gillett
There are a ton of resources, and we pick “Speak English Like An American by Amy Gillett” because of its story structure and readable organisation.
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Bob’s the main character besides his wife and two children. The story has 25 chapters, and each chapter has lots of collocations and idioms that native speakers use in their daily lives. Thus, this’s one of the best way to learn speaking as an American.
For example, this is our first chapter.
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In each chapter, you will see words in bold, which are collocations and idioms that they explain at the end of the chapter as follows.
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Furthermore, you also have questions to practice using all collocations and idioms that helps you remember all phrases much longer.
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If you want to get the file, please search for it in any search engine. We cannot share its content without permission from the author.
2. Learn from YouTube videos
There are hundreds of native English trainers sharing lessons on YouTube, and they are all free! So, simply go to YouTube and search the keyword "English Collocations and Idioms," then you will see unlimited sources. We don't recommend specific channels because picking the most suitable one depends on each person's taste. Therefore, you need to check each video and see if you're interested in the channels.
3. Duolingo English Test sample answers
Sometimes, learning collocations and idioms from stories is still hard to apply in answering Duolingo English Test practice questions. So, we build our sample answers with highlighted words and phrases to help you learn more effectively.
If test-takers practice Speak About the Photo, Read then Write, Read then Speak, Listen then Speak, or Writing Sample, they will see a sample answer after submitting their practicing answer. On top of that, when they move their pointer to any words or phrases, test-takers will see the meaning. Therefore, test-takers don’t have to look them up if they don’t understand, so it saves time and improves their learning quality. Regarding speaking question types, DET test-takers can also listen to their sample answer by playing the audio file right below the sample answer.
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If you want to experience sample answers, simply go to the DET Practice Platform, create your FREE account and experience everything, including instant feedback. In addition to thousands of practicing questions, we offer instant feedback for Speaking and Writing answers. Accurately, our system evaluates your Fluency, Lexical Sophistication, Lexical Diversity, Grammatical Accuracy, and Acoustic Features (Pronunciation). By doing this, test-takers can learn from their mistakes and improve their answers in the next attempts. Let’s get your DET Ready today!
Click here to check a video sample feedback for your reference.
