What makes a good picture description in #DET?
Here is an example by our DET instructor Mariia Botina (DET 160 out of 160!):
"I see a picture of a beach during low tide, with boats stranded on the shore. It doesn’t seem like it’s a very well-kept beach, judging by its size and wild grass and trees around. The water has a magnificent color with foaming cyan waves hitting the shore. This may well be off the beaten track and only used by locals. "Here are some things that are expected from a high-level response and why mine was just that:
1. Advanced descriptive words, not just obvious adjectives. I used "stranded, wild, off the beaten track." This is advanced vocabulary that fits the context, not just fancy words.
2. Participle clauses to connect ideas, e.g. "judging by." Here I killed two birds with one stone - both speculation and a clause.
3. Speculative language: "may well be, doesn’t seem like."
4. Appropriate sentence length and answer length. A good answer is between 30-50 words. Mine is 52. It uses different sentence structures, which we see in my answer.
So, on the one hand, the answer looks quite simple. But on the other, there is some great language there!
This summer, we are running a workshop on teaching writing for Duolingo English Test.
The workshop will cover:
- Types of writing tasks and time constraints for each one
- Assessment criteria
- Ways to approach each task
- Types of questions that you’re likely to encounter during the exam
- The necessary language for each type
Instructor: Mariia Botina, DET 160 out of 160
Price: 2500 RUB
Schedule: Friday, 17 July, 11:00 Moscow time
Place: in real time on Zoom, some participation is expected
💌 Sign up: @iraluts