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
Think of a book, film, or song that changed the way you see something. What was it, and how did your thinking change? Explain why it had that effect on you.
30s to prepare · 3:00 to speak · 1 take only
Useful Expressions
The one that changed my thinking is... · Before I watched it, I assumed... · What changed my mind was... · It stayed with me because... · Looking back, I think...
Show Model Response
The one that changed my thinking is an animated film called Inside Out. It sounds like an odd choice, because it is a children's film about a girl moving to a new city, but it changed how I think about difficult emotions more than any serious book I have read.
Before I watched it, I assumed that sadness was basically a problem to be solved. If a friend was upset, my instinct was to cheer them up as quickly as possible, and if I was upset myself, I treated it as something to push through and get over. I thought being a positive person meant spending as little time as possible in a bad mood.
What changed my mind was the way the film handles its sadness character. For most of the story she is treated as useless, someone the others try to keep away from the controls. Then, near the end, she turns out to be the one who actually helps, because she is the only one who can sit with the girl's loss instead of covering it up. The moment that lands is quiet. Sadness does not fix anything by being cheerful. She fixes it by admitting that something genuinely hurts.
It stayed with me because it showed the idea instead of explaining it. I had heard people say that you should let yourself feel bad things, and it always sounded like advice you nod at and then ignore. Watching it happen in a story made the reasoning obvious in a way that an argument never did for me.
Looking back, I think the practical effect was on how I treat other people. I stopped trying to talk friends out of being upset, and started just asking what happened and then staying quiet. That small change made my conversations with people I care about far more honest. It is strange to say that a cartoon taught me that, but it did, and I suspect that is exactly why it worked.
Before I watched it, I assumed that sadness was basically a problem to be solved. If a friend was upset, my instinct was to cheer them up as quickly as possible, and if I was upset myself, I treated it as something to push through and get over. I thought being a positive person meant spending as little time as possible in a bad mood.
What changed my mind was the way the film handles its sadness character. For most of the story she is treated as useless, someone the others try to keep away from the controls. Then, near the end, she turns out to be the one who actually helps, because she is the only one who can sit with the girl's loss instead of covering it up. The moment that lands is quiet. Sadness does not fix anything by being cheerful. She fixes it by admitting that something genuinely hurts.
It stayed with me because it showed the idea instead of explaining it. I had heard people say that you should let yourself feel bad things, and it always sounded like advice you nod at and then ignore. Watching it happen in a story made the reasoning obvious in a way that an argument never did for me.
Looking back, I think the practical effect was on how I treat other people. I stopped trying to talk friends out of being upset, and started just asking what happened and then staying quiet. That small change made my conversations with people I care about far more honest. It is strange to say that a cartoon taught me that, but it did, and I suspect that is exactly why it worked.