ChatGPT is renowned as the smartest chat box in the market answering all (almost) questions at an acceptable accuracy. The question is, “What if we use it to help us improve our Writing and Speaking skills while preparing for the Duolingo English Test?”. ChatGPT is indeed a great tool. DET takers can surely utilise it to help them advance their Writing and Speaking answers by requesting upgraded answers to their original ones.
In a nutshell, students write or speak their answers to a question first and request ChatGPT to offer upgraded answers to the original ones. The upgraded answers will always get higher scores on the DET scale, so DET takers can learn new ideas, collocations, idioms, and so on from the upgraded answers. In this article, we will be guiding you step-by-step on how to use ChatGPT to request upgraded answers in order to enhance our Writing and Speaking abilities.
A three-step strategy to utilise ChatGPT
Step 1: Answer the question by yourself first
This step is truly vital in providing a sense of understanding of the question, so DET takers are able to answer similar questions in the future. On top of that, we need an answer to request upgraded ones and later compare our original and the upgraded answers to see the differences in how to improve our skills. As a result, DET takers have to write or speak the answer by themselves first before moving on Step 2: Use templates to ask ChatGPT.
Here is our sample question, Read then Write question number 3, Level 3 on the DET Practice Platform.
cre: TADE Hub
Question
Some people think that in order to produce a happy society, it is necessary to ensure that there is only a tiny difference between the earnings of the richest and poorest. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
If you have a DET Practice Platform Premium account, it’s better to visit the platform and answer this question. Otherwise, it’s okay to write the answer anywhere on your computer as long as you set five minutes to complete this task because Read then Write only gives us five minutes to write at least 50 words.
You can temporarily stop reading here and answer the question. If you already answered the question, please check the following sample answer that we will be using to request upgraded answers until the end of this article.
Answer
To have a happy society, we need to address problems like the gap between rich and poor and other issues. Money is crucial, but it only solves basic needs. Mental health is also vital for happiness, as people won't be content with money if they face problems at work or with family. Simply narrowing the earnings gap won't effectively achieve our goal. Instead, we should closely examine all causes and solve them for good.
Step 2: Use templates to ask ChatGPT
There are two templates that DET takers can use: The Basic and The Advanced.
Here is our Basic template, simply copy our content and save it anywhere for your future use.
2.1. The basic template
The template
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I have a question and an answer to that question, please upgrade my answer to have 15% higher scores than the original one in less than 180 words.
Question:
Some people think that in order to produce a happy society, it is necessary to ensure that there is only a tiny difference between the earnings of the richest and poorest. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Answer:
To have a happy society, we need to address problems like the gap between rich and poor and other issues. Money is crucial, but it only solves basic needs. Mental health is also vital for happiness, as people won't be content with money if they face problems at work or with family. Simply narrowing the earnings gap won't effectively achieve our goal. Instead, we should closely examine all causes and solve them for good.
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Explanation of the content template
Why 15%: If the gap is too big, it’s impossible to learn from the upgraded answers because our English level is NOT yet good enough to understand it. Consequently, 15% is a great gap for DET takers to fully comprehend the upgraded answers and learn from them. In the upgraded answers, there are new ideas for articulating your thoughts and new vocabulary that we can learn and apply to practice. If we set the percentage lower than 15%, the upgraded answers will likely be the same as our original answers; thus, there will be nothing to learn from.
Word limit: We add the Word Limit in our template to make it like the actual test question. It depends on different question types to have different word limits. Regarding Writing question types, each has its own word limit that the Duolingo English Test sets up for us. When it comes to Speaking question types, the normal WPM (word per minute) is 150, which means, a normal conversation has 150 words per minute. Therefore, we have the following word limits for each question type.
Write About the Photo: 45 words – The Duolingo English Test asks takers to write at least one sentence to describe the image. However, as long as our content is related to the image, DET takers should write as many words as they can. As we can see from thousands of students they rarely write over 45 words in one minute.
Speak About the Photo: 220 words – we have 90 seconds to speak, which is equal to 220 words.
Read then Write: 180 words – they require us to write at least 50 words. But we need to write as many as we can as long as our answer is related to the question.
Read then Speak and Listen then Speak: Similar to Speak About the Photo, we should set it to 220 words.
Summarize the Conversation: 75 words – we are allowed to write up to 75 words.
Speaking Sample: 350 words – we have three (03) minutes to speak, so it should be equal to 450 words limit. Nevertheless, it is super hard, even for a fluent speaker, to keep the speed for three minutes straight. We always need time to break, slow down, or take longer time to think. As a result, 350 words for three minutes are the best.
Writing Sample: 180 words – this is the same as Read then Write.
Question: We use the question text here. If it’s an audio question, we need to transcribe it into text and paste the text here.
Answer: It’s your answer.
Here is the result after sending requests to ChatGPT.
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The upgraded answer has 137 words, which met our requirements of less than 180 words. Let’s compare your original answer and the upgraded one to see the differences more easily.
Compare your answer to ChatGPT’s
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Do you see any differences?
New ideas to articulate your thoughts: ChatGPT always elaborates the original answer to make it more details. In this case, DET takers can learn so many new ideas on how to articulate their thoughts logically and coherently better.
More linking words are used: Linking words connect sentence and sentences or different points in a single sentence. To name a few, we have truly, while, instead, by addressing, collectively, etc.
New collocations, expressions, phrasal verbs, idioms, etc: ChatGPT uses new vocabulary to expand the answers and provide a higher-scored one that students can learn a lot from. We have some phrases such as the pivotal role of, grapple with, pave the way for.
2.2 The advanced template
The template
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I have a question and an answer to that question, please do the following tasks:
Task 1: Upgrade my answer to have 15% higher scores than the original one in less than 180 words.
Task 2: List out all new idioms, collocations, expressions, phrasal verbs and their meanings.
Question:
Some people think that in order to produce a happy society, it is necessary to ensure that there is only a tiny difference between the earnings of the richest and poorest. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Answer:
To have a happy society, we need to address problems like the gap between rich and poor and other issues. Money is crucial, but it only solves basic needs. Mental health is also vital for happiness, as people won't be content with money if they face problems at work or with family. Simply narrowing the earnings gap won't effectively achieve our goal. Instead, we should closely examine all causes and solve them for good.
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Explanation of the content template
Yes, almost everything is the same as the Basic one except that we divide our request into two smaller tasks. Task 2 is new here that we ask ChatGPT to list out all new idioms, collocations, expressions, phrasal verbs and their meanings to help students learn more easily and save time for searching.
DET takers can use the Basic template if they want to search vocabulary by themselves after studying the Upgraded answers thoroughly. This is a great way as students need to carefully examine the upgraded answers first in order to comprehend them and learn new vocabulary.
Here is the result after sending a request to ChatGPT, students can see that the upgraded answer has 123 words, which meets the requirement of less than 180 words. If students can write this answer, they definitely will get over 140 scores.
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Did you see that ChatGPT gave the answer precisely readable? We have the Task 2 feedback right below Task 1 with new idioms, collocations, etc listed out along with their meanings. Please never expect ChatGPT to list out everything, it’s normal that it misses some new idioms or phrasal verbs that need your attention to explore.
Compare your answer to ChatGPT’s
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Similar to the Basic template, we have new ideas to express our thoughts, and learn how to use more linking words in our writing and speaking in addition to new vocabulary.
Compare ChatGPT’s answers from the Basic and Advanced templates
Basic
Advanced
To foster a truly happy society, it's imperative to recognize that addressing economic disparities alone is insufficient. While financial stability is vital, it merely caters to fundamental needs. Genuine societal happiness hinges on a holistic approach, acknowledging the pivotal role of mental well-being. Monetary wealth loses significance when individuals grapple with workplace or familial challenges. Merely narrowing the earnings gap proves inadequate in realizing our overarching objective. Instead, a comprehensive examination of all contributing factors is imperative. This entails a multifaceted strategy that not only bridges economic divides but also prioritizes mental health support, workplace satisfaction, and familial harmony. By addressing these intricacies, we pave the way for a society where contentment is derived not just from financial equality but from a harmonious convergence of various facets that collectively contribute to a flourishing and truly happy community.
For a society to thrive in happiness, tackling issues beyond mere economic disparities is essential. While financial stability addresses basic needs, true contentment involves prioritising mental well-being. Individuals find money insufficient to foster happiness amidst workplace or familial challenges. A narrow focus on reducing the earnings gap proves inadequate for the overarching goal. Instead, a comprehensive analysis of all contributing factors is imperative. This holistic strategy encompasses bridging economic divides, prioritizing mental health, ensuring workplace satisfaction, and fostering familial harmony. By addressing this intricate web of elements, we pave the way for a society where fulfilment arises not solely from financial equality but from the harmonious convergence of various facets. This multifaceted approach is key to fostering a flourishing and genuinely happy community.
The Basic template answer has more words doesn’t mean it will get a higher score. We request ChatGPT to offer the upgraded answers of 15% higher scores in both templates, so the level of both answers will be almost the same. The thing is that every time we request ChatGPT, it will provide a completely new answer for certain, and students need to utilise this wonderful feature to improve their brainstorming skills when it comes to similar questions or topics.
2.3. Ask for suggestions for improvement
We ask ChatGPT one more time for suggestions to improve our Writing and Speaking answers after carefully examining the upgraded answers. DET takers simply use the following call to both Basic and Advanced templates.
“Advice on how to deliver an upgraded answer like yours concisely.”
After sending the above call to ChatGPT, here is the result.
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We have so many suggestions to enhance our answers including, but not limited to:
Eliminate Redundancy: The Duolingo English Test evaluates Lexical Diversity in test-takers' answers. So if we use repetitive phrases, words, information, etc., our answers will not get the highest score.
Avoid Overexplanation and Focus on Key Messages: Most of the time, over-explanation is not a positive term, especially when we sit for the DET because time is indeed limited. For example, Read then Write only gives us five (05) minutes to write answers, if we are not concentrated, it will be easy to get off track and come to over-explanation, leading to not having enough time to deliver all key points that we initially structured.
Effective Transitions: Transitions are linking words that are irreplaceable in developing a coherent and logical answer. Accordingly, it’s truly crucial to learn how to apply linking words effectively in our writing and speaking.
Step 3: Answer the question again by yourself
Step 1 – Answer the Question first by yourself allows students to brainstorm on how to answer the question, so they are able to brainstorm faster and more efficiently when they face similar questions or topics on their test days.
Step 2 – Use templates to ask ChatGPT to provide DET takers with upgraded answers, which a higher-level answers compared to their original ones. After learning thoroughly from the upgraded answers, students now have new ideas to articulate themselves better equipped with new vocabulary, including idioms, collocations, expressions, phrasal verbs, etc.
Step 3 here offers students another opportunity to apply what they have learned from Step 2 to practice. Simply answer the question again by using what you still remember from Step 2 and making it your knowledge.
Live-interactive DET Practice Platform and Preparation Course
In the last year (2023), we have been supporting nearly 20,000 students in obtaining their Duolingo English Test scores with the DET Practice Platform and DET Preparation Course.
The DET Practice Platform offers thousands of practice questions and instantly detailed feedback for all question types, so DET takers are able to check their mistakes and improve their scores. For example, if students practice a Speak About the Photo question, the DET Practice Platform delivers feedback based on Fluency, Grammatical Accuracy, Grammatical Complexity, Lexical Sophistication, Lexical Diversity, and Acoustic Features. We use the same grading elements as what Duolingo English Test uses to assess test-takers skills.
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Grammatical Complexity and Relevance are two new grading elements that we will be add to our feedback around the middle of March 2024. So now, test-takers have all seven grading elements from our feedback, which is 100% the same as the grading elements that the Duolingo English Test uses to evaluate their skills.
Feel free to watch this video sample feedback for a better understanding.
The DET on-demand Preparation course is brought to DET takers from our over-11-year training experienced teacher including a clean and clear study road map, detailed strategies to face all question types and a complete Preparation guide to prepare successfully for the DET. Let’s take a visit to the DET on-demand Preparation course for details.
We wish you the best of luck on your preparation journey.
