How to practice: This set collects only the Speaking Sample question type from the real DET (Duolingo English Test), covering DET Speaking questions. No grading and no timer, so solve it yourself, then tap each question to reveal the answer or model response.
Q1
Sometimes being honest with someone and being kind to them pull in opposite directions. Describe a situation where that happens, and explain which one you would choose and why.
30s to prepare · 3:00 to speak · 1 take only
Useful Expressions
A situation where honesty and kindness collide is... · The difficult part is that... · In a case like that, I would probably... · That said, there is a limit to... · So my rule of thumb is...
Show Model Response
A situation where honesty and kindness really collide, at least for me, is when a close friend asks what I think about something they have already put a lot of work into. A few months ago a friend of mine sent me the first version of a business plan she had been writing for almost half a year, and she asked me straight out whether I thought it would work.
The difficult part is that I genuinely did not think it would work, at least not in the form she showed me. Her budget was far too optimistic and she had no plan at all for what to do if the first few months went badly. But she was excited, she had already told her family about it, and I could tell that she was asking me for encouragement more than for a review.
In a case like that, I would still choose honesty, but I would be very careful about how I deliver it. What I actually did was start with the parts I really believed in, because that part was not flattery, it was true. Then I asked questions instead of giving verdicts. I asked her what she would do if she only got half the customers she expected in the first year. That way she reached the weak point herself, and it did not feel like I was tearing her work apart.
That said, there is a limit to how much honesty a moment can carry. If someone is in the middle of a crisis and cannot change the outcome anyway, then listing everything they did wrong is not honesty, it is just making myself feel useful. Timing matters as much as content.
So my rule of thumb is fairly simple. If the truth can still change what happens next, I say it, as gently as I can manage. If it cannot change anything and would only hurt, I keep it to myself and stay with the person instead. I do not think kindness means avoiding the truth. Most of the time it just means choosing the right moment and the right words for it.
The difficult part is that I genuinely did not think it would work, at least not in the form she showed me. Her budget was far too optimistic and she had no plan at all for what to do if the first few months went badly. But she was excited, she had already told her family about it, and I could tell that she was asking me for encouragement more than for a review.
In a case like that, I would still choose honesty, but I would be very careful about how I deliver it. What I actually did was start with the parts I really believed in, because that part was not flattery, it was true. Then I asked questions instead of giving verdicts. I asked her what she would do if she only got half the customers she expected in the first year. That way she reached the weak point herself, and it did not feel like I was tearing her work apart.
That said, there is a limit to how much honesty a moment can carry. If someone is in the middle of a crisis and cannot change the outcome anyway, then listing everything they did wrong is not honesty, it is just making myself feel useful. Timing matters as much as content.
So my rule of thumb is fairly simple. If the truth can still change what happens next, I say it, as gently as I can manage. If it cannot change anything and would only hurt, I keep it to myself and stay with the person instead. I do not think kindness means avoiding the truth. Most of the time it just means choosing the right moment and the right words for it.