The Duolingo English Test was initially born at the end of 2016, just like a boy compared to an adultIELTS or TOEFL. As a result, so many test-takers misunderstand of this trulyremarkable test.
There are the top 05 myths about the Duolingo English Test that our students and premium members of the DET Practice Platform usually ask as follows:
- The Duolingo English Test is easier than IELTS and TOEFL.
- Speaking faster gets you a higher score
- Needing a native accent to achieve high scores
- Punctuation and pauses are not important
- Using complex sentences and advanced words all the time
We are here to help you clarify them once and for all. Let’s get into it!
1. DET is easier than IELTS and TOEFL
DET, IELTS, and TOEFL are English proficiency tests. They evaluate your English level to see whether you are good enough to study abroad or apply for any job requiring an English proficiency certificate. So, in general, there is no difference between all tests as they assess our skills mostly based on Speaking, Listening, Writing, and Reading.
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Therefore, it is NOT true to say that DET is easier than IELTS and TOEFL. However, one thing that you need to bear in mind is their formats. The Duolingo English Test builds their question types to test your proficiency in a limited time, which is more practical in real life because you need to be fast, concise, and straight to the point.
For example, let’s take a look at the following question.
Describe a successful small business that you know about.
what business/company it is
what this business does
how you know about this business
and explain why you think this business/company is successful.
When you saw it, what did you remember first? Was it Task 2 in the IELTS speaking?
That’s totally correct, and you have 1-minute to prepare, make any notes if you like, and 2-minute to speak. Interestingly enough, DET has the same question type, which is called “Read then Speak”. However, you only have 20 seconds to prepare without writing anything. In other words, you are not allowed to use any type of equipment, including notebooks. Next, you have 90 seconds to share your answer.
2. Speaking faster gets you a higher score
A bunch of test-takers believes that they will likely get higher scores if they speak faster. It is NOT true, and you simply need to deliver completely organized, clear, and strong points to aim for higher scores.
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Some students ask, what if they speak slowly and still deliver a clear answer? Will they still get high scores? We will answer this question later.
In our normal conversation, the speaking rate (pace) has to be around 3.3 – 4.5 syllables per second to be considered fluent. Therefore, you don’t need to speak faster than that standard to earn more points.
To answer the previous question, you need to maintain a consistent speaking rate of around 3.3 – 4.5 if you aim for high scores. Otherwise, if you speak slower, you will likely lose your points.
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In the DET Practice Platform, we will evaluate your Pace and show it in detail for your reference apart from other grading aspects, including Grammatical accuracy, Lexical sophistication, Lexical diversity, Fluency, and Acoustic features.
3. Needing a native accent to achieve high scores
DET doesn’t evaluate your English proficiency based on your accent. They assess your English skills based on the following seven aspects.
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For example, we have many premium account members from India, Korea, China, and others who have achieved very high scores in their Duolingo English Tests and don’t change their accents. In other words, they just used their mother tongue accent and showed it to the world proudly. We respect and admire them a lot!
To conclude, you should not worry about your accent as long as you answer questions clearly and coherently.
4. Punctuation and pauses are not important
Punctuation and pauses have the role of making your points clear and organized. You cannot write the whole 50 words essay without using punctuation, can you?
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For example, let’s check the following two situations and see what we understand!
- Situation 1: Not using punctuation
The Duolingo English Test is a new English proficiency test that helps you prove your skills to study abroad similar to IELTS or TOEFT it is fast trusted convenient and affordable.
- Situation 2: Using punctuation
The Duolingo English Test is a new English proficiency test that helps you prove your skills to study abroad, similar to IELTS or TOEFT. It is fast, trusted, convenient, and affordable.
From the above example, we all see how important punctuation is to help you deliver an amazing answer. Pauses are the same because it has the exact same function in speaking as punctuation in writing.
5. Using complex sentences and advanced words all the time
It simply does not has to be. DET evaluates your proficiency based on Lexical and Grammatical aspects, but we don’t need to use complex sentences and advanced words all the time.
Clear, organized, and coherent points are the top elements that you should focus on creating your answers, and feel free to add on several complex sentences and advanced words in your speech or essay to aim for higher scores. But again, you should not always use complex sentences and high-level words because it may be counterproductive when you use them in the wrong situations.
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Our suggestion for your Duolingo English Test success is to set the right DET study plan and practice regularly to achieve your desired scores. You can go to the DET Practice Platform, create your FREE account and boost your skills today.
Our Duolingo English Test Practice Platform has thousands of questions, automatically instant feedback to show you your grammar, spelling, and pronunciation mistakes for improvement.
Let’s check out one sample feedback from the automatically correcting system!
