Interactive Writing - Guide to Duolingo English Test Question
In this article, we're going to look all of the key information you need to get a high score on the Interactive Writing question on the DET.
Table of Contents
- What is the "Interactive Writing" question type?
- Tips to do well on the "Interactive Writing" question
- Conclusion
What is the "Interactive Writing" question type?"
There is just one Interactive Writing question on the test. It consists of two parts.
In part A, you will be a given a prompt and you will have 5 minutes to respond to it. Then in part B, you will be a given a second prompt, and you will have 3 minutes to respond to this one. The second prompt will be related to the first.
☝️ After you respond to the first prompt, you will not be able to edit your response. However, you can read your first response while you are writing the second one.
Tips to do well on the "Interactive Writing" question
Here are tips that will quickly help you score higher on Interactive Writing:
Before the test
- Study the 3 prompt types for Interactive Writing
- Write strong paragraphs
- Learn connecting words
- Learn templates for Argue prompts
- Study model answers
- Practice with feedback
- Answer Arno's essential Interactive Writing questions
- Improve your typing speed
During the test
- Read the prompts carefully
- Plan your response
- Write for the entire time
- Save time to proofread
Let's look at each tip more closely.
Before the test
Study the 3 prompt types for Interactive Writing
All of the extended writing and speaking questions on the DET (in other words, not the picture description questions) use the same 3 kinds of prompts:
- Recount: Tell a story from your past
- Describe: Share information about some topic
- Argue: State your opinion and defend it
If you learn how to structure your response to each kind of prompt, then you can be confident that you won't get surprised on test day. Below is a lesson in which I go through the 3 prompt types:
Write strong paragraphs
If you can write strong paragraphs, your writing will always be organized and coherent. This will help you not only on the DET but also in your studies and your career after school!
Strong paragraphs are quite simple. You need a strong topic sentence that captures the main idea of the whole paragraph. Then, you need to elaborate on that main idea using further explanation, evidence, or examples. That's it! I go through it all in this lesson:
Learn connecting words
Connecting words tell your reader what is coming next, which makes your writing easier to understand and improves the cohesion and clarity of your response. You will use the same connecting words over and over, so mastering the key connecting words is an easy way to improve your score.
Learn templates for Argue prompts
Argue prompts are one of the 3 prompt types on the DET. There are a few specific formats for Argue prompts, and you can learn templates for each one. In the prompt, if you are asked What is your opinion? you can use this template. Or if you are asked Do you agree or disagree? you can use this template. If you are asked to discuss the pros and cons or advantages and disadvantages of something, you can use this template.
Study model answers
By studying model answers you can see how to structure your answers as well as advanced vocab that you can use in your response. We've put together 50 example Interactive Writing questions with high-scoring model answers in this article.
Practice with feedback
It's important to practice, but you can only improve if you know what you are doing well and your areas for improvement. Arno is perfect for that 😁
We give you an instant estimated score and detailed feedback on the strengths and weaknesses of your response.
We also show you where you can improve your grammar.
You will also get a personalized rewrite of your response, so that you can improve your phrasing.
This feedback is available on our paid plans. When you create your free account, you can get feedback like this on 5 of your responses so that you can see how it works and decide if it's worth paying for. Every new user also gets a free, full mock test with subscores and feedback on all of your responses! Just click below to create your free account.
Answer Arno's essential questions
The team of DET experts at Arno has identified the essential Interactive Writing questions that you should practice. That way, you can more quickly get ready for the test. You can find the essential questions here.
Improve your typing speed
In part A of Interactive Writing you have 5 minutes to write your response and in part B, you have just 3 minutes! In order to have full responses with well-developed ideas, you have to be able to type quite quickly.
We recommend that you be able to type at least 40 words per minute at a 90% accuracy level. To assess your typing speed, you can use the free site typing.com. If you need to improve your typing, typing.com also gives you free exercises.
During the test
Read the prompts carefully
When we are nervous or stressed, it is easy to misunderstand a prompt or miss important details. Slow down and read the prompts multiple times to make sure you understand all of their parts.
Plan your response
For part A, you are given 30 seconds to read the prompt and plan your response. You should use all of that time.
In part B, you aren't given extra time to prepare your answer, but we still recommend taking ~30 seconds to think through your response before you start to write. You will find it much easier to write once you know what you want to say.
Write for the entire time
As explained in the official guide to the DET, you do not get points for answering questions faster. However, you will score higher if you write more because you will be able to develop your ideas more and use more diverse vocabulary. In short, there is no reason to not use all of the time you are given.
Save time to proofread
If your response has typos, missing words, or other easy-to-fix mistakes, it will be impossible to get a high score. That’s why it is crucial that you save time to proofread your response.
A good rule of thumb is for every minute of the question, you should write for 50 seconds and then proofread your response for 10 seconds.
This means that for part A of Interactive Writing , which lasts 5 minutes, you should write for about 4 minutes and proofread your response for about 1 minute.
For the second part, which lasts 3 minutes, you should plan for ~30 seconds, write for ~2 minutes, and then edit for ~30 seconds.
When you are proofreading, focus on the easy-to-fix mistakes since these will lose you the greatest number of points. I explain more about those mistakes in this lesson:
Stay on topic
One common mistake on open-ended response questions on the DET is that test takers ramble. Ramble means to go from one idea to another idea randomly. Test takers do this because they want to keep writing or speaking and get a higher score. However, if you ramble you will lose points! This is why it's important to plan your response. That way, you know what you are going to say before you start writing.
Conclusion
Now you have all the essential information you need to do well on Interactive Writing! To go deeper, watch the lessons mentioned in this article and check out the other resources I linked to.
Once you're ready to practice, just head over to Arno and create your free account!
Happy studying 😁
