Nadi's Guide to
Improving your DET
-------------------
2023 edition
more guides at: https://bit.ly/IISMA-Guide-by-Nadi
Journey to → 155
Intro
Hi!
What began with reading an email
in February then texting a friend
about it...
...with only 2 weeks to prepare
for the English Proficiency Test
(EPT)...
I'm Nadibunny
...and researching
and this is how I got my
everyday to find all the score and accepted as an
latest information... IISMA awardee!
Check out more of my IISMA guides and older DET guide: https://bit.ly/IISMA-Guide-by-Nadi
IMP
ROV
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COM mea
Nadi's Guide to Engl
MITT
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ns:
ish NG t
IMPROVING o
→
UND
ERS
TAN
your DET the t
PLA
est DIN
G
NNIN
succ G fo
ess r
To remember it, try spelling I-C-U-P
in English out loud hehe
committing
Committing
How much have you been committing to English?
How much time have you been spending
reading in English daily?
ideas: read from Harvard Business Review / The Conversation /
Medium, curate your social media with more English accounts,
google things in English, switch your phone's language, etc.
How much time have you been spending Don't underestimate how much of
listening in English daily? a difference IMMERSING yourself
ideas: watch your favorite series or movie in English + Eng subtitles, in English makes!
find English podcasts, watch western Youtubers! Some ideas:
Veritasium (Science), LinhTruong (Vlogger), BoyBoy (Controversial)
How much time have you been spending Not only will it help with the test, but
speaking in English daily? you will be more prepared when you
reach the interview stage as well.
ideas: there are a lot of Discord servers / LINE groups dedicated to
learning English, other IISMA fighters, etc.
How much time have you been spending further reading: Best Way to Learn a Language
thinking in English daily?
ideas: you can practice it anywhere and anytime – practice thinking
in English while commuting, while waiting in line, while at home, etc.
understanding
Understanding
Understanding is divided into three components:
THE TEST
Understanding how the exam is assessed, the different
question types, and the best strategies for answering them.
THE TECHNICALITIES
Understanding the technical aspects of the real DET test to
prevent invalid results and get your score.
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
Understanding how to evaluate yourself, practice efficiently,
and how to improve quickly.
Understanding these three (3) segments will
significantly boost your DET Score!
understanding
THE TEST
Have you read the official DET guide?
Duolingo provides an official guide in their Let's get to
website →https://englishtest.duolingo.com/guide know the
The guide gives explanation on every questions. questions in
DET!
In DET, questions can be put into two categories:
questions with correct answers
questions with open responses
QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS OPEN RESPONSES
(Interactive Reading)
Read and Complete Complete the Sentences Write about the Photo
Read and Select Complete the Passage Speak about the Photo
Listen and Select Highlight the Answer Read, then Write
Listen and Type Identify the Idea Read, then Speak
Read Aloud Title the Passage Listen, then Speak
Writing Sample
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
In the real test, this question will become harder and
harder. You don’t need to get everything right in this
question to get a good score!
Do your best and try to write a word you think might
fit even if you're not sure. You will get the same score
whether you leave it blank or if it was wrong.
More tips in doing this question:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BM5bMMHDIFc&feature=youtu.be
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
NEVER choose words that you have never heard or
don’t understand! Trust your instinct and stick with
what's familiar to you!
Traps are often the combination of prefixes, root
words, and suffixes:
Prefixes Root Words
pre-, post-, circum-, de-, viv-, sect-, jud-, terr-,
in-, bi-. trans-, con-, temp-, -tract-, -port, -
com-, co-, sub-, peri-, man, -ped-
ex-, exo-, ab-, ob-, obs- https://membean.com/roots/
https://www.englishhints.com/list-of-
prefixes.html
Suffixes
-tion, -ity, -er, -ness, -ism, -ment,
-ship, -age, -ery, -th
https://www.englishhints.com/list-of-suffixes.html
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
From my experience, the best way to practice for this
is to familiarize yourself with English consonants!
Look up videos on Youtube of common English words
and pay attention to how each letter sound like this one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh8aa9Rcza8&feature=youtu.be
Duolingo will try to fool you by using real English
words but then changing a letter in the word!
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
You can use these resources to practice:
https://speechling.com/dictation/english
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhFypML23vM
There's no shortcut for this one :)
Don't forget to familiarize yourself with
different English accents!
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
Use these following tips to make your reading sound
more natural:
Word Stress Chunks
Pay attention to words that Some phrases are considered
you need to stress when you ‘chunks’ rather than individual
read aloud! words.
That girl is breaking the law. I'd like to order a sunny-side up.
Contractions Weak Sounds
Shorten the forms when Some ‘grammatical’ words are
possible. pronounced as weak sounds
/ə/ = for, and, but, or, the,
I am →I'm you, do, is, was, shall, in, at
They have → They've etc.
More details on this:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/knowing-
subject/articles/connected-speech
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/professional-development/teachers/knowing-
subject/teaching-knowledge-database/chunks
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
Part of the new interactive reading section in DET.
Don't have advice for this yet but hopefully the tips
provided by the Official Duolingo Test Guide can
help you :(
You can also practice it from Teacher Luke's videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn0cZLA7-5g
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
Part of the new interactive reading section in DET.
Don't have advice for this yet but hopefully the tips
provided by the Official Duolingo Test Guide can
help you :(
You can also practice it from Teacher Luke's videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn0cZLA7-5g
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
Part of the new interactive reading section in DET.
Don't have advice for this yet but hopefully the tips
provided by the Official Duolingo Test Guide can
help you :(
You can also practice it from Teacher Luke's videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn0cZLA7-5g
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
Part of the new interactive reading section in DET.
Don't have advice for this yet but hopefully the tips
provided by the Official Duolingo Test Guide can
help you :(
You can also practice it from Teacher Luke's videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn0cZLA7-5g
understanding
THE TEST QUESTIONS CORRECT ANSWERS
Part of the new interactive reading section in DET.
Don't have advice for this yet but hopefully the tips
provided by the Official Duolingo Test Guide can
help you :(
You can also practice it from Teacher Luke's videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qn0cZLA7-5g
understanding
THE TEST OPEN RESPONSES
These are the things
Duolingo pays
attention to!
YOU WILL SCORE BETTER in open AVOID doing these things in open
response questions if you: response questions:
use more diverse words use the same words
use more complex grammar structure use the same and simple grammar
write as much as you can only write the minimum
staying in topic with the question stray from the topic being asked
understanding
THE TEST OPEN RESPONSES
Different difficulty levels mean different types of photos:
Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
This type of picture The second picture The third picture
usually shows a usually shows a only shows an
number of people in picture of panorama object (without any
a certain location, (with/without people humans involved)
doing some activities. inside).
Tips:
Even though the time limit is so short, try to write AT LEAST 3 sentences!
Practice until it comes naturally to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=UfNEY_lKKNo&feature=youtu.be
understanding
THE TEST OPEN RESPONSES
Same thing as before but speaking.
Practice using a template structure to help you describe:
1) Summary
What’s the most important thing about the image? “This
picture shows…”
2) Location description
Where is it positioned? Adverbs or adjectives to make it
descriptive
3) Add detail
What is happening to the most important thing in the
image? Action verbs
4) Speculate
Why is it happening? Probably, suppose, maybe, might
have, etc.
understanding
THE TEST OPEN RESPONSES
For this question, ALWAYS follow this structure:
Introduction + Body + Closing/Conclusion
Different difficulty levels mean different types of questions
Level 1
Describe a time or an experience.
"Describe a time you were surprised. What happened?
Level 2
Explain something.
"People have jobs because they need money, but what are some
other important reasons people have jobs?
Level 3
Provide an opinion/argument.
"People are never satisfied with what they have; they always want
something more or different. Do you agree or disagree? Why? Give
specific reasons for your answer."
Tips:
Use complex sentence structures like these ->
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/complex-sentence/
understanding
THE TEST OPEN RESPONSES
Make sure to include these phrases to connect
your ideas together and sound more natural!
Discourse Markers
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-
grammar/discourse-markers-so-right-okay
understanding
THE TEST OPEN RESPONSES
Use these when
expressing your
opinion!
understanding
THE TECHNICALITIES
WARNING!
Many people encounter
problems when taking
the real DET test!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpndQBonX4g
Follow these instructions
carefully when you take the
real DET test to ensure your
test will be valid!
watch the two videos!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Em5jiD6_iI
understanding
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
HOW TO PRACTICE BETTER? The tips I
give in this
Here are two recommendations I can give to practice section are
efficiently based on experience and research: from these
books!
1 Reflect and evaluate yourself
Assess your English across different sub
scores in DET to know where to focus on
2 Keep going out of your comfort zone
To improve quickly, you have to keep
challenging your weakest spots!
Check the next slides for the explanations!
understanding
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
1 REFLECT AND EVALUATE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll4hZN3n9TI
Ask yourself, which questions do you feel are
easier to do and which ones are harder?
Because Conversation and Production are often more
difficult, I'd suggest focus on improving:
your listening
your writing
your speaking
When you can break
down what you need
to work on, it feels less
overwhelming!
understanding
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
2 KEEP GOING OUT OF COMFORT ZONE
“The hallmark of purposeful or deliberate practice is that you try to do something
you cannot do — that takes you out of your comfort zone — and that you practice
it over and over again, focusing on exactly how you are doing it, where you are
falling short, and how you can get better.”
-------------------
Anders Ericsson, researcher who found the 10,000 hour rule
You will NOT improve if you keep practicing
the same EASY things all the time
Learning a language is supposed to be hard. Take that leap and practice
what feels hardest to you until it becomes easier. Make that commitment to
use English as much as possible in your daily life, find someone with better
English than you and learn from them, do what scares you the most!
Your hard work will pay off.
planning
THINGS TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT:
the deadline given by your university
the deadline of the IISMA registration
technical difficulties and retakes with DET
if you intend to retake to get better scores
Planning Even though you should receive your DET results in around ~3 days,
Remember that you have to take you should still prepare to wait ONE WEEK in case of any invalid results.
into account a LOT OF FACTORS
when taking the test for IISMA! AN EXAMPLE TIMELINE
Many people have had problems 17th January 20th January 24th January 28th January 31st January
taking the test and receiving their
results; make sure you consider
your timeline! Take Test Test Result Invalid Retake Received Valid University
(no score) Test Result
Deadline
University deadline comes first because you need
a recommendation letter from your university
in order to register for IISMA.
GOOD LUCK!
-------------------
Check out more of my IISMA guides and older DET guide:
https://bit.ly/IISMA-Guide-by-Nadi
Twitter: @nadibunny_
