Duolingo English Test 160 VOCABULARY | 50 words and phrases YOU NEED TO KNOW

To get a high score on the Duolingo test speaking questions, you need to demonstrate a high level of English vocabulary. This is made very clear on the scoring criteria right here where it says that it evaluates your lexical sophistication and lexical diversity, basically the level and variety of vocabulary you use on the speaking questions. And one way to show your high level of vocabulary is to use idioms.

native speakers use idioms all the time without even realizing it. If you can incorporate some everyday idioms into your speaking answers, then it will show a high level of vocabulary. So in this video, I'm going to talk about seven idioms you can use for almost any of the speaking questions you get on the Duolingo test.

You can use these for almost any question because these idioms are all related to talking about your experiences. And most of the speaking questions on the Duolingo test or even the IELTS test often ask you about your experiences on a certain topic. Take a look at the sample Duolingo test speaking questions.

As you can see they are related to your experiences, likely you'll be able to use these idioms in your speaking answers. I will show you the EDM and a high level answer as well so you can see how it's used in context. Let's jump right into an EDM number one, and it is to hit the ground running, which means to immediately work hard and successfully add a new activity activity could mean anything like a new job, a new course, a new sport, anything like that.

So when you're talking about something new that you have started, and you can use the EDM to hit the ground running to show that you're starting in really well successfully or enthusiastically. Now let's take a look at a real Duolingo English test speaking question, and I'll answer it using this idiom. Talk about a time when you needed to adapt to a different lifestyle or cultural setting.

How did you manage to adapt to this new way of living? When I was in secondary school, I was lucky enough to have the chance to go to France for a month to study French. And I remember being really nervous on the flight over that because it was my first time going abroad without my parents.

But even though I was nervous, I was determined to hit the ground running. So as soon as I arrived, I enrolled into extra French classes. And I even joined the local French football team because I thought it was really important for me to immerse myself in the culture and make local French friends.

Idiom number two is to learn the ropes, which means to learn how to do a particular job or activity. You use this when you're a beginner at a new job or a new hobby and you're just learning the basics to learn the basics in an EDM is to learn the ropes. This ETM probably comes from sailing when sailors had to learn how to use the ropes on a sailboat, which is of course the basics to sailing.

So just one more time when you're learning the basics of a new job or a new hobby or a new activity. You could say I'm learning the ropes. Now let's see how you can use it in a Duolingo test speaking answer.

Let's talk about a time when you faced a challenge at work or while studying. When I was at university, I got my first part time job. It was at a cafe on campus.

And it was really hard for me at first because actually I had never worked at a cafe and I didn't even drink coffee. So all of the different coffee drinks like an americano or a cappuccino. All of these were completely new to me.

And I remember it being really hard at first, but within a few weeks, I had learned the ropes and I think I got pretty good at making coffees in the end. Okay, moving on to EDM number three, which is to get the hang of something. And this simply means to learn how to do something.

Well, this EDM is really common for talking about learning something or something you've already learned. Rather than saying I can do it well, you can just simply say, I've got the hang of it. Or if you are currently learning that activity, you can say I'm getting the hang of it.

native speakers use this all the time, so it's definitely one you should be using in your everyday English. Let's check it out in a Duolingo test, speak and answer. Talk about a new skill you decided to learn as an adult.

Describe any obstacles you encountered. One of the most challenging things I've ever had to learn in my life was the Korean language. I remember when I first started learning it, I was just completely shocked by how different he was than the other languages.

I knew I had to learn a new alphabet from scratch. It's called Hangul, and a lot of the sounds in Korean were really difficult for me to make but I had to learn it because my wife's Korean, so I went out and got a good teacher. And before long I started to get the hang of it.

I was able to read Hangul and have basic conversations with Korean people, which was my goal. Okay, let's now talk about EDM number three which is to go With the extra mile, and this means to make more effort than is expected of you. I think this is a very easy EDM to understand.

You can imagine yourself literally walk in an extra mile, and that taking more effort. So as an idiom, you can use this phrase to go the extra mile to talk about anything you do, which requires more effort, it can be at work, so you went the extra mile to deliver a great presentation, or you can use this in more casual context. I'll show you a Duolingo test speaking question about giving gifts, and I'll answer it using this idiom.

Talk about a special gift you have given to someone recently, I normally just buy really simple gifts for my family members and friends, you know, something like a box of chocolates. But for my brother's most recent birthday, I went the extra mile, I got him tickets to see his favorite football team Tottenham Hotspur play live in London. The next EGM we're going to look at is back to square one.

Which means to start something again from the start, because your previous attempt didn't work out. The emphasis here is on going back to the start. So imagine you're doing something like working on a project, but you realize you've made a mistake, and you have to begin all over again.

In this situation, you can say I need to go back to square one, it's most likely you'll use this idiom in a formal context. So talking about work or school, but not always, but most likely it will be in those types of formal contexts. Okay, now let's take a look at another D T speaking question.

And I'll give my answer using this idiom to talk about an educational course or training you have undertaken. The most memorable course I've ever taken was a short crash course on computer programming. And I remember being really excited about this course, because the goal of it was to make your own video game, which sounded pretty cool to me.

However, it was a lot harder than I anticipated. And I remember about two weeks into the course, my game just not working at all. So the teacher did a quick review.

And he found lots and lots of bugs, which meant that I had to go back to square one and start again, five idioms done. Now we have two left, let's move on to the next one, which is to turn over a new leaf. And this means to make a fresh start or to start to behave in a better way.

This is mostly used when talking about a life situation or some type of attitude change where you want to start again and start something more positively, for example, maybe want to improve your health. So you want to turn over a new leaf and start eating healthily and exercising. Or you're not studying hard enough in school.

So you're gonna turn over a new leaf and start to work hard in school. A lot of speaking questions on the Duolingo test or IELTS test will ask you about how you have changed in a particular way, in that kind of situation. And you can use this EDM, just like in this example here.

Describe a significant change you have made in your personal or professional life. How did you identify the need for this change? And what steps did you take to implement it?

To be honest, until recently, I used to waste a lot of time consuming pointless content on social media. And I noticed this becoming a little bit of a problem. So I decided to turn over a new leaf and limit the amount of time I spent on these social media platforms, I downloaded an app which was send me a notification if I spend more than 10 minutes on a particular platform.

And that app really helped me a lot. Friends In this video, we're going to talk about 21 phrases you can use to immediately improve your speaking on the Duolingo English test. Now these phrases are helpful, because they'll help you sound a lot more natural.

Make your answers are more logical and help you speak for longer. And we will start in just one second. But if you're new here Hi, I'm Teacher Luke from DT ready.

com. Visit our website to find useful tools and information to help you prepare for the Duolingo English test. Okay, then well, let's get started with today's lesson.

I'm going to teach you these phrases by going through an answer for the speaking questions on the practice Duolingo English test. And this is the question we'll look at today. Discuss public assistance offered to low income families in your country.

What kind of assistance is offered? Who can benefit? What are some of the positive and negative results of these programs?

So this is the question we're going to answer when you get a question like this on the Duolingo English test. It's good to begin your talk by using an introductory phrase, basically a phrase that will introduce the topic. These are a great way to begin your talk because they make you sound a lot more logical and they give you a couple more seconds to think about your ideas.

Let me show you some of these introductory phrases, you can use phrases like this. Today I'd like to talk about in this talk and go into describe explain, I would like to talk about, I'm going to tell you about. All of these types of phrases are called introductory phrases, and they're great for introducing the topic.

So here's an example in full. Today, I'd like to talk about the different types of housing assistance, low income families get in my country. Another example.

In this talk, I'm going to describe the different types of housing assistance low income families get in my country. So as you can see, using an introductory phrase like this can help you sound a lot more logical, and it's a great way to begin your answers. Now let's take a look back at the question we're answering today, you might notice that there are actually three different questions Duolingo ask you this is very common on the read, then speak question type on the test.

And I strongly recommend that you answer each of these questions because it will give you more things to talk about and help you speak for longer. And it is important how you transition from question to question, there are different phrases you can use to move from first to second to third. So let me show you some of those phrases here.

For example, in regard to the first question, turning to the second question, or as for the final question, so you can use these three phrases to move from the first, second and third questions. And I think they're a great way to transition. It also means that you don't have to link the ideas together to go from question two question, you can kind of begin a new idea by using one of these phrases.

On top of that, if you want to go back to a question, if you have time or you have new ideas, you can use a phrase like this. Returning to the first question, or returning to the second question. Now, let me show you a full example.

In regards to the first question, low income families are entitled to several types of housing assistance, but the most common, I believe is rental assistance, where families can receive a grant to help pay their rent. As for the final question, I strongly believe that support for low income families is essential, especially for families who have children. Returning to the second question, I would like to add that low income families are not the only ones who can receive government support, but also the elderly, and people with disabilities can receive similar assistance.

These types of transitional phrases from question to question are a great way to make your answers are a lot more logical. And it makes it easier for you to move to another question. Personally, I recommend you use these when you do the speaking question on the Duolingo test.

Also, on the Duolingo speaking questions, you are required to give your opinion from time to time and there are lots of different phrases you can use to give your opinion. Of course, the most common one is in my opinion, but you don't want to use that one all the time, you can use some different ones. So let's look at some different ways to express your opinions.

Now. You could say something like, I'm inclined to believe that, from my point of view, or from my perspective, my impression is that, as far as I'm concerned, the way I see it. So these are five different phrases you can use instead of in my opinion, and they're probably better, you probably get a higher score.

If you use one of these phrases on any English exam, of course, in my opinion is not wrong. You just don't want to use it all the time. Now I'll show you a few quick examples on how you can use these phrases in your answers.

So here's a full example. I'm inclined to believe that housing assistance is essential for many low income families, especially families with young children. Another example, as far as I'm concerned, housing assistance is vital for many struggling families.

And a third example, the way I see it, housing assistance is an important benefit for families who are struggling economically. Being able to give your opinion effectively on the Duolingo test is really important. And these phrases can help you a lot.

Now next up after you've given your opinion, you want to back it up with some examples. And nearly all the students I teach use the same phrase to show that they're going to give an example. Of course they say, for example, but there are lots of different ones you can use.

And the more variety of phrases you use in your answer will lead to a better score. So let me show you some different phrases you can use to give examples here. For instance, a great example of this is let me share an example.

An instance from my life that springs to mind is given examples like this is a great way to develop your answer. And that's really important too. And like I said earlier, it's a good idea not to use the same phrase over and over again.

So don't just use the phrase for example, many times instead and use these let's see how they can be used in a full sentence. For instance, families who are eligible for housing assistance can receive monthly grants to help pay for their rent, as well as foodstuff times to cover the cost of groceries. And if you want to give a personal example, a example from your experience, you can say something like this.

An instance from my life that springs to mind is when my best friend's mother and father both lost their jobs, and they had to rely on government benefits for a short time to afford their groceries and pay their energy bills. It's very important to remember that when you do the speaking question on the Duolingo test, that you have to develop your ideas, that means go beyond just giving your opinion. But given a reason, or example, why using phrases like the ones I just showed, you are a great way to give examples.

Okay, now we've spoken a lot about this question, it's time to conclude our answer. Many of my students use phrases like In conclusion, or to sum up to conclude their answer, which is totally fine. But as always, I want to show you more variety of different phrases you can use to here are some more phrases you can use to conclude your answer.

You can say something like to wrap this talk up. To summarize my opinion quickly. So that's why to make a long story short, I don't recommend you use these phrases for writing.

They are a bit informal for that, but they are totally fine for any type of speaking by nature speaking is a lot more informal. So phrases like this are totally fine. Let's see some examples of them.

To wrap up this talk. Although some people argue that my government are too generous with the assistance they offer to low income families, I believe it's essential that they continue offering this type of support. Hi, friends.

In this video, we're going to talk about 21 phrases you can use to improve your writing on the Duolingo English test so quickly before we start that if you're new to this channel, Hi, I'm Teacher Luke from d t ready. com. Visit our website because we have lots of tools and information to help you prepare for this Duolingo English test.

Okay, so the first category of phrases we're going to study today is all to do with opinions. Now on the Duolingo English test, you may be required to give your opinion about a topic on the writing question. So it's important you know how to talk about your opinion, clearly.

And academically, most students would just say, in my opinion, which is totally fine. But here are some other phrases you can use which are probably more advanced. So one easy phrase you can use is from my point of view, or in my view, you could also say I am inclined to believe that or my impression is that another good one is in my perspective.

Now these are all really useful ways to share your opinion on the Duolingo English test. And in my point of view, they are better than using in my opinion, especially if you're sharing your opinion more than once you don't want to repeat yourself. So practice using these ones.

instead. Let me show you some full examples. From my point of view, governments and local authorities should ban fast food companies from advertising to young people.

Another good way to give your opinion is to talk about the opposite opinion first, and then use a word like however to share your opinion something like this. Some people argue that however, in my perspective, in a full example, some people argue that children should be allowed to eat whatever they want. However, I'm inclined to believe that children's diets need to be closely supervised.

Okay, now let's talk about how you can develop or extend your ideas on this test. It's important on this writing question not just to give your opinion and then move on. Instead, you do want to develop and extend your idea.

And a good way to do this is to mention a similar point that's similar to your opinion. So what are some phrases you can use to do that, let's take a look here. In addition, or additionally, moreover, adding to my previous point, another good one is not only but also, as I mentioned, on the exam, you want to extend your answers as much as possible, because it shows the examiners that you're able to talk about all of your opinions well in English, and these phrases are a great way to extend your opinion such as some example ideas of how to use them.

In addition, children who eat a lot of fast food are more at risk from serious health issues. Another example, not only is fast food unhealthy for children, but it can also cause serious health issues. Not only but also is a great way to extend your ideas, because in the not only section of the sentence, you mentioned your previous idea and then after but also you mentioned your new idea.

On top of that it adds a lot of emphasis to your writing, which is also a good thing to do. Another great idea to extend your answers is by adding examples. And as a teacher myself when I see my students give examples, I think that's fantastic.

However, I still love the phrase. For example, of course, that phrase is great to use once, maybe twice. But if you're given lots of examples in your writing, and you want to use different phrases, so instead of for example, you can use for instance, to give a clear example or a clear example of this is you could also use to illustrate these phrases are great to use instead of for example, let's look at some full sentences and then I'll talk a bit more about them.

A clear example of this is heart disease. Since children who eat a lot of fast food are more prone to heart related health issues later in life. To illustrate, a recent study found that children who eat fast food on a daily basis are 15% more likely to have heart related issues when they become adults.

To illustrate is normally followed by a statistic or a number. If you noticed, in my example, I said 15% That refers to the statistic I'm talking about. You might also want to know that you don't have to use accurate statistics in your exam, you can just make them up like I did here.

I didn't know that I just wrote it off the top of my head, it's probably not true, but that's fine. This test is a test of your English knowledge, not your ability to memorize facts and figures. Next up we have talking about a condition a condition basically means if something happens first, then something else can happen set conditions mostly start with the word if so if you know the if grammatical structures, you know how to use a conditional sentence, but not all conditions, start with a word if you can use other phrases as well.

After F probably the most common is provided that you can also use as long as and the negative condition is unless these phrases work in exactly the same way as if sentences they signal that something should happen before something else happens next, let me show you what I mean. Provided that children eat a balanced diet, having one or two fast food meals per week should not cause any health issues. Unless governments ban fast food companies advertising to children health issues among the young will continue to increase.

And of course, we should look at phrases for ending your answer her conclusion in this exam I sometimes see students write in a nutshell or finally, and these are not acceptable for a conclusion in an academic essay. They are too informal. The best ones to use for an academic essay are these ones here.

I would always play it safe and just use one of these three phrases to conclude your essay. No one is going to disagree with these phrases. Okay.