If you want to hone your skill to the best, you should practice applying the below strategy for every question in Write about The Photo. As our members have applied, they upgraded their scores significantly.
This strategy is to help you optimize your skills to get the most out of it. Thus, we build it in detail to support your study easier and more efficiently; of course, you should practice along the way with us.
Besides, you should know that Tips and Strategies only help you improve your scores by around 10-20 points. So you need to practice regularly and upgrade your writing generally to achieve your desired scores. We will be sharing โHow to improve your performance for Writing questionsโ for your study soon.
For now, letโs get down to business.
1. Identify the main part
If you see these images, what is the main part of each of them?
A
B
C
In picture A, there are three fully-grown young people walking on a street in the daytimeโฆ
In picture B, a young female waitress is standing and serving her customersโฆ.
In picture C, we can see a huge green tree on the rightโฆ
Are they the main parts that you identified? If so, congratulations!
But, do you know why we should classify them in the first place? Because when you Write about The Photo, you CAN NOT miss the main part, which helps you show people briefly what the photo is. Then later, you can describe it in detail by writing about other stuff around the main part.
So please, do not ever forget to determine it in the beginning.
2. Describe images strategically
Strategy is profoundly vital to delivering organized and attractive writing, which helps you aim for a higher score in Production.
From now on, letโs use the below image as an example to apply all strategies.
Speaking of strategies, there are two imperative parts you need to pay close attention to.
a. Focus on the main part in detail
Earlier, you defined the main part: "a young female waitress is standing and serving her customersโ.
So, how could you describe everything about her before moving on to other stuff in the image? This is our example:
โThis picture portrays a young female waitress standing and serving her customers roughly in the middle, and she is smiling with a man on the right.โ
You should only concentrate on one particular thing at a time to describe. Once you finish it, itโs time to move on to others because it will likely become a mess if you keep changing your people or objects to describe.
Oh, wait for a second before we move on; do you know what tense you should use to describe an image? Thousands of students ask us for advice, so letโs clarify it before the strategy.
Firstly, we use the Simple Tense to describe stuff in the image most of the time. It means you tell what is in the picture.
In the picture, I can see ...
Thereโs / There are ...
There isnโt a ... / There arenโt any ..
The photograph portrays/ depicts โฆ
Secondly, we use the Present Continuous to describe what is happening. For example:
The three friends are walking on the street and talking about something.
The young female waitress is standing and serving her customers.
There is nothing for us to apply the Simple Continuous in image C. If you see humans, you should use the Simple Continuous to describe their actions most of the time.
Lastly, you can use the past simple or the present perfect tense or others to describe something depending on the situation.
For example, in image A, you may say something like, โIt looks like they just met each other after a long time; thatโs why they look so delightedโ.
b. Describe all other parts
So, what should you describe next if you complete the main part? Some ideas below are for you.
A white bulb at the top right,
A plant in the top left-hand corner,
People are working on their laptops,
And lots of others.
If we put them into writing, it should be like this:
โThis picture portrays a young female waitress standing and serving her customers roughly in the middle, and she is smiling with a man on the right. Besides, a white bulb is at the top right, and a plant is in the top left-hand corner.โ
In case you still have time, you can write more about other objects.
Do you want to write like our sample answer? Keep exploring our next steps till the end.
3. Learn the opening statements
Once you already know the main part, your job is to make an opening statement about the image. So, how do you often do?
Let's use these images again.
A
B
C
There is actually a couple of ways to start your writing.
In this image, we can see โฆ.
This is a picture of โฆ
This photograph portrays โฆ
There are โฆ in this photo.
We take Image A to make an example for you.
This photograph is of three young inhabitants walking on the street in the daylight; they all look cheerful.
How about you? Letโs try your way and share it with our community to grow together.
4. Add details to your answer
Duolingo English Test strongly recommends we write as much as possible as long as itโs related to the image. You cannot just label the picture, can you? Thus, we have several methodologies to make your answers longer but still right to the point and inviting.
Letโs retake a look at our example.
a. Write about the actions of the people
What are the actions of those people if you write about it? Some verbs you may use to describe the actions: looking at, holding a piece of paper and a pen, talking to, ordering food, working with laptops, or even smiling.
Itโs essential to talk about what they do because itโs one of the most effective ways to deliver a detailed answer.
You simply need to define some actions in the image and describe them. However, what if the image does not include anyone, such as in picture C. In this case, please follow our next tip.
b. Describe the objects or people in detail
In this tip, what else could we describe besides the actions? Yes, there are still many of them.
About people, you can describe: peopleโs clothes, accessories, or emotions.
You can talk about other objects: what is it, their colors, sizes, or benefits.
If the picture does not have any people, let's get back to your question. We can write about a giant green tree, a small white house, beautiful ranges of mountains, a beautiful sky, and the sun at the top in picture C.
c. Show the locations of everything
Thisโs not less important compared to the previous two. Whether you write or speak about the photo, itโs genuinely critical to show others the locations of everything (ideally).
You can check the below guide to apply appropriate words to show the locations in images.
What should you write about our example image if you apply the direction above? You may write something like this:
The waitress is roughly in the middle/ center.
The man in his grey shirt is about in the bottom right-hand corner.
The huge green tree is in the top left-hand corner.
The white bulb is at the top right.
5. Make your prediction - If something isnโt clear
You may probably have no time to make any predictions. However, this is an excellent notion of making your time perfect, just in case you do have.
And if so, how do you make predictions? Letโs review our recommendations:
It seems likeโฆ
It looks likeโฆ
It might beโฆ
I guessโฆ
I thinkโฆ
I predictโฆ
I reckonโฆ
From my speculationโฆ
For example, I predict this coffee shop provides excellent service because the waitress and her customers look delighted.
6. Use punctuation and check errors
a. Use appropriate punctuation
If you check our strategy for the Read, then Write question type, you will see the same points below. We all know how critical punctuation is in our writing; it helps you deliver the right impression to your reader. We use the comma โ , โ and full stop โ . โ very frequently compared to others. Thus, we will share how to use it effectively in our writing.
The comma โ ,โ
The comma โ , โ is used to pause within or separate parts of sentences, making your thesis clearer and more attractive. Yes, there are three rules you can learn and apply using punctuation.
Rule 1: Use a comma to separate a series of nouns, adjectives, or verbs.
Letโs look at our example again, can you find a list of nouns, adjectives, or verbs to make an example?
The man in his grey shirt is sittingon a chair, holdingthe menu in his left hand, and lookingdirectly at the waitress roughly in the middle.
Rule 2: Put a comma before a FANBOYS when connecting two independent clauses.
First of all, you need to know that FANBOYS stands for โFor And Nor But Or Yet Soโ. If you need to connect two independent clauses, please use an appropriate FANBOYS and put a comma before it.
The man in his grey shirt is sitting on a chair, holding the menu in his left hand, andhe looks directly at the waitress roughly in the middle.
Rule 3: Put a comma after adverbs.
Adverbs are deeply imperative in terms of connecting sentences and sentences or emphasizing some points after them.
The man in his grey shirt is sitting on a chair, holding the menu in his left hand, and he looks directly at the waitress roughly in the middle. Besides,his girlfriend looks directly at him while holding a menu in her left hand.
Note:We only shared the top common rules that test-takers can use most in their English proficiency tests. If you want to know more about how to use commas accurately, please go search it on Google.
The full stop โ .โ
The full stop โ . โ is used to pause longer between sentences, show when a point is made, or end suggestions or commands. You should always bear in mind to make not-too-long sentences, so you stand a better chance to lure othersโ attention.
Letโs practice together; when you see a paragraph below, where should you add commas, full stops, or other punctuation?
This is an image of a young waitress talking to her customers roughly in the middle in detail she is talking to a man in the bottom right-hand corner, and another young woman is sitting on the opposite side of the man. Besides there are a sea of people in the background.
Your answer should be like this:
This is an image of a young waitress talking to her customers roughly in the middle. In detail, she is talking to a man in the bottom right-hand corner. And another young woman is sitting on the opposite side of the man. Besides, there are a sea of people in the background.
b. Check errors
We utterly acknowledge the limited time; sometimes, we do not possess enough time to write about all detail, far less correct them. Nevertheless, itโs still better to practice this properly in case you need it.
So, speaking of checking errors, there are 03 categories you need to pay close attention to, including Spelling, Grammar, andPunctuation.
Spelling
This is the easiest one as sometimes we type too fast, which turns out to be the wrong words. You simply need to pay close attention to your written words and fix it while going over the whole answer.
Grammar
This aspect will impact your score enormously. Hence, itโs better to check it carefully.
Punctuation
As you already know, punctuationโs clearly crucial to help you have an organized and coherent answer. By that, I mean you should practice our tips as much as possible to use them effectively.
Do not worry! You will be great on your test day.
Most of us will struggle to check or correct our mistakes when our time is about to end. As a result, we build automatically correcting systems to assist you in detecting almost every error. Since you can note down and practice again to avoid similar mistakes on your test day.
*Practice makes perfect!
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