Easily Write a Longer Answer! Duolingo English Test Writing Tips

Summary

The Duolingo English Test includes a writing section where you are required to write at least 50 words in response to a prompt. In this video, Teacher Luke provides valuable tips on how to not only meet this requirement but to excel by crafting longer, more developed responses. By using advanced academic phrases, incorporating transition words, and understanding paragraph structure, test-takers can effectively express their opinions and build well-rounded arguments. The tutorial also covers how to make concessions and provide examples, ensuring your answer is comprehensive and demonstrates a high level of English proficiency.

Highlights

• Utilize advanced phrases to introduce opinions, like 'with regard to' or 'regarding'. 🎓
• Employ transition phrases such as 'furthermore' and 'moreover' to extend your arguments. ➡️
• Consider offering counterpoints with phrases like 'on the other hand'. 🔄
• Illustrate arguments with phrases beyond 'for example', such as 'to illustrate this point'. 🌟
• End with concluding phrases like 'given these points' for a comprehensive wrap-up. 🎬

Key Takeaways

• The Duolingo test requires writing at least 50 words in 5 minutes. Practice is key! ⏰
• Using advanced phrases like 'with regard to' can elevate your writing and help meet word count. ✍️
• Incorporate transition words and alternative views to build strong, articulate arguments. 💡
• Examples and varied vocabulary are crucial in demonstrating your English proficiency. 📚
• Conclude by restating main ideas to provide a sharp finish to your arguments. 🎯

Overview

The Duolingo English Test features a demanding writing segment where participants need to complete a short essay of at least 50 words within a five-minute limit. Teacher Luke in this video provides strategic advice to not only meet this requirement but elevate the quality of your writing. He begins by introducing sophisticated English phrases to easily increase word count and improve the overall style and impact of your responses.

The video progresses by introducing transition phrases that link ideas smoothly and support robust essay structures. Luke explains how integrating multiple supporting ideas and counterarguments can strengthen the response. Sharp transitions with phrases like 'furthermore' and making concessions using language like 'on the other hand' are shown to enrich the overall argumentative quality.

Concluding paragraphs are essential, and Luke stresses using comprehensive summation phrases that restate your main points succinctly. The video demonstrates crafting a complete answer, showcasing how to employ these tricks effectively. With a focus on impactful writing, students are encouraged to practice these techniques to improve their Duolingo test scores significantly.

Easily Write a Longer Answer! Duolingo English Test Writing Tips Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 For the main writing question on the Duolingo English Test, the read that right question type, the one you can see right here, you need to write at least 50 words within the five minute time limit. This is actually a requirements, as you can see here on the official Duolingo task guide, meaning it's vital that you're able to write at least 50 words within the time limit. And in this video, I'm going to help you to do that, because I'm going to teach you some academic English phrases that will not only improve your answer, but
• 00:30 - 01:00 also increase the length of your answer. Trust me, these are going to be really useful for you. So let's get started with some phrases you can use to introduce your opinions on the read that right question type, you might get a question type like this, this is an argument question where you have to state your opinion and make an argument for it. When you get an argument question you need to state your opinion. So rather than
• 01:00 - 01:30 using a think, or in my opinion, which are very common and kind of short, you can use one of these phrases instead. With regard to I believe that all with regard to many people believe that in the first part of this sentence, after with regard to you outline the topic. And of course in the second part, this is where you state your opinion, here's a sample sentence. With regard to employment. Many people believe that
• 01:30 - 02:00 technology has both created new opportunities and made some older skills less in demand. Another phrase you can use to introduce your opinion, regarding I am of the opinion that again, in the first part of this sentence after regarding this is where you state the topic. And in the second part is where you state your opinion. Regarding global warming, I am of the opinion that immediate government action is essential to reduce carbon emissions. You can use these phrases in your topic sentence, which is the first sentence in your
• 02:00 - 02:30 paragraph. And as you can see, they do sound more advanced than I think or in my opinion, and they also increase your word length a little bit as well. Let's see them used in action on a tuning go test writing question. Here's the question, you can pause and read it yourself. With regard to the arguments that changes in the modern world quickly outdated school curriculums. I believe that there is truth to this for
• 02:30 - 03:00 two key reasons. Regarding the view that school curriculums become outdated due to the rapid changes in the modern world. I am of the opinion that this is not true for a couple of important reasons. Those two sentences were great examples of a topic sentence because they clearly outline your opinion and set up the structure for the rest of your paragraph. If you're interested in learning about how to structure your
• 03:00 - 03:30 paragraph correctly, then you can check out my full production course where I teach an effective structure you can use for this writing question on the to lingo English test and show you lots of useful grammar, vocabulary and phrases, along with practice questions and sample answers for you. If you're interested in taking this course, there is a link below in the description. It's called The Ultimate production school program. Anyway, back to these phrases. Now let's look at phrases you can use to transition to new ideas. When
• 03:30 - 04:00 you're writing your answer, you will probably want to include more than one supporting argument that backs up your opinion in your topic sentence to introduce a second or third opinion, we use transition words most commonly words like additionally, moreover, furthermore, these are totally fine to use. Of course, everyone uses them all the time, but I want to show you how you can add to these phrases if you want to make
• 04:00 - 04:30 your answers slightly longer. Furthermore, it's worth noting that you can use this phrase when you want to add more information to support your main argument. There's not a lot of difference than just writing Furthermore, but if you do want to make your answer slightly longer, and probably have a bit more emphasis to your points, then this is a good phrase to use. Furthermore, it's worth noting that technology's role
• 04:30 - 05:00 in education has made learning materials much more accessible to students everywhere. Another phrase Moreover, we cannot overlook the fact that use this to add some important information to your answer. This phrase does have the nuance of something important that needs to be considered. Moreover, we cannot overlook the fact that smart home technologies have made everyday tasks quicker and simpler. Again, let's see these in action in a Duolingo test writing answer. We'll use the same question as before the first
• 05:00 - 05:30 sentence is the topic sentence, which we've already looked at. Now let's take a look at the supporting ideas. The first supporting idea is firstly, advancements in technology and science can quickly outdated information taught in school. For example, students frequently learned from textbooks lacking updates in fields such as computer science. Furthermore, it's worth noting that contemporary issues
• 05:30 - 06:00 like climate change, and digital literacy are not always promptly integrated into curriculums. On top of making your answers longer using phrases like these can add variety to your answer and demonstrate a high level of English vocabulary, which of course is on the scoring criteria you can see right here. Okay, next up, we have an advanced technique in Paragraph Writing, and it's called making concessions. This is an advanced technique, both in paragraph and essay writing. making concessions means to consider and write about the
• 06:00 - 06:30 alternative point of view or the opposite argument. And doing this is an advanced technique because it shows that you have a good understanding of the topic, and you can make a well rounded argument. Just to make it clear, you do not need to include a concession sentence in your paragraph on the Duolingo test. But it is an option for you your paragraph structure might look something like this a topic sentence supporting idea
• 06:30 - 07:00 one, which of course supports your topic sentence your argument, then you can write a supporting idea number two, using the transition phrases we just discussed. Or here you can write a concession sentence. I'll show you how to do this in one moment. And of course, it is a good idea to end with a concluding sentence. You do not need to follow this paragraph structure, but it is a standard template a lot of people use when writing an
• 07:00 - 07:30 academic paragraph. Anyway, back to making concessions, here are some phrases you can use. The first phrase I have for you is on the other hand, some argue that you can use this to talk about the opposite opinion in a sentence. On the other hand, some argue that school uniforms restrict students is freedom of expression. The next phrase is, it's equally important to highlight the downsides of something such as it's equally
• 07:30 - 08:00 important to highlight the downsides of technology such as privacy concerns and the risk of data theft. Those were two phrases you can use to introduce your concession sentence. Let's see them in action in a real Duolingo test answer. On the other hand, some argue that schools foundational knowledge and skills like critical thinking and adaptability stay relevant Despite rapid changes. Okay, moving on to something that you should definitely do in your Duolingo test writing answer, and that is to give examples, we all
• 08:00 - 08:30 know that providing examples is essential for a solid paragraph. Most students I see just use the phrase, for example, of course, that is fine, but there are some other phrases you can use. So let's take a look at them. Now, to provide a clear example. An obvious example of this is this is exemplified by to illustrate this point, all of these phrases can be used instead of for example, and like I said, they do sound more
• 08:30 - 09:00 academic, in my sample answer the one we've been looking at so far, I actually use the phrase, for example. So let's change that up with one of the other phrases I just showed you. To provide a clear example, students frequently learned from textbooks lacking updates in subjects such as computer science. Last up, we're going to look at some phrases you can use to write your concluding sentence. Your concluding
• 09:00 - 09:30 sentence should restate your topic, sentence and backup your main ideas. The most common phrases people use to introduce their concluding sentences are to conclude, or in conclusion, and of course, these two phrases are totally fine. You should use them if you want to. But I just want to show you one more phrase you can use which is slightly longer if you need to increase your word count at the last minute. Given these points. It's clear that as I said, you should use a phrase like this to introduce your concluding sentence. Restate your
• 09:30 - 10:00 main idea and back up all of your points. Here's a sample sentence. Given these points, it's clear that we must also think about how technology affects our environments, particularly as the production of gadgets leads to more electronic waste. Now I'm going to show you a full answer with a topic sentence supporting idea one concession One sentence, a
• 10:00 - 10:30 concluding sentence. With regard to the arguments that changes in the modern world quickly outdated school curriculums, I believe that there is truth to this. Firstly, advancements in technology and science can quickly outdate the information taught in school. To provide a clear example, students frequently learned from textbooks lacking updates in subjects such as computer science. On the other hand, some argue that
• 10:30 - 11:00 the main skills taught in schools like critical thinking stayed relevant despite changes in the modern world. Given these points, it's clear that school curriculum struggled to keep up with the fast paced modern worlds highlighting a need for a more up to date approach to education. So that's a full answer to the question using some of the phrases I taught you today, the word count was 105, which is probably a little bit
• 11:00 - 11:30 high for a lot of test takers. Do not think that you need to write that much. Personally, I think anywhere from 70 to 100 words is more than enough to get a good score on this test. The phrases I taught you today are very useful for the read then write and the writing sample, but now you should learn how to structure your answer correctly. And this video will help you with that. You'll learn a simple structure you can use for the read that writes and writing samples, allowing you to write as much as you can and make the test easier
• 11:30 - 12:00 for you. So I'll see you in this video.