Duolingo Syllabus

Duolingo English Test Syllabus

The Duolingo English Test (DET) is designed to measure your real-world English communication skills — Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking — through short, adaptive tasks.
Unlike traditional exams, it doesn’t have fixed sections but instead adjusts question difficulty based on your performance.

Reading Skills

What’s tested:
Your ability to understand written English — vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure.

Question types:

• Select real English words from a list
• Complete missing letters in a text
• Read short passages and answer comprehension questions

Listening Skills

What’s tested:
Your ability to understand spoken English in different accents and contexts.

Question types:

• Identify real English words from audio clips
• Listen and type the sentence you hear
• Short comprehension listening tasks

Writing Skills

What’s tested:
Your ability to express ideas clearly and correctly in written English.

Question types:

• Write short answers to given prompts
• Describe an image in text
• Write an essay (50–100 words) on a given topic

Speaking Skills

What’s tested:
Your fluency, pronunciation, and ability to communicate ideas in spoken English.

Question types:

• Speak about an image
• Read a passage aloud
• Record a spoken response to a prompt or question

Video Interview & Writing Sample

After the main test, you’ll complete:

• A 1–3 minute video interview: Speak on one of two given topics.
• A short writing sample: Write about one of two given prompts.
  These responses are shared with universities as part of your application to demonstrate your real communication ability.

Test Format Summary

Section	Skills Tested	Question Types	Duration
Adaptive Test	Reading, Listening, Writing, Speaking	Mix of short, interactive questions	45 minutes
Video & Writing Sample	Speaking, Writing	Open-ended tasks	10 minutes

Tips to Prepare

• Practice with the official Duolingo Practice Test (free online).
• Focus on improving vocabulary and pronunciation.
• Speak naturally and clearly during responses.
• Manage time wisely — each task is short and timed.