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Duolingo English Test speak about the photo practice

B2Listening & Speaking40 questionsUpdated

Speak about the photo gives you a short preparation window and then records you describing an image aloud. On the Duolingo English Test there is no examiner to prompt you, so silence is the real enemy: a reliable set of sentence frames matters more than an interesting observation.

What this task tests

  • Whether you can begin speaking immediately, without a long pause for thought.
  • Fluency across the whole recording rather than in the first ten seconds.
  • Range of description language: position, appearance, action and inference.
  • Hedging, since you have to talk about things you cannot be certain of.
  • Grammatical control while speaking, particularly the present continuous.
  • Vocabulary precision under pressure — naming objects rather than pointing at them.
  • Whether you can extend an idea with a reason instead of stopping.
  • Composure when you run out of things to say before the time runs out.
  • Clear delivery at a steady distance from the microphone.

How to do it

  1. Step 1:

    Use the preparation time to choose three things

    One person or object, one detail nearby, one inference about the situation. Three items is enough material for the whole recording, and choosing them stops you starting with a pause.

  2. Step 2:

    Open with a full sentence, not a noise

    ‘In this photo, a woman is unloading boxes from a van.’ Starting with ‘erm, I think, maybe’ wastes the opening seconds, which are the ones a listener judges most.

  3. Step 3:

    Move outwards from the centre

    Main subject, then foreground, then background, then the situation as a whole. A fixed route through the image means you never stop to decide what to mention next.

  4. Step 4:

    Turn every observation into two sentences

    Say what you see, then why it matters or what it suggests. ‘There is a long queue outside. It looks as if the shop has just opened.’ That habit alone doubles your speaking time.

  5. Step 5:

    Hedge instead of guessing

    ‘It seems to be’, ‘probably’, ‘as far as I can tell’, ‘if I had to guess’. Hedges are natural English and they give you something fluent to say while you find your next idea.

  6. Step 6:

    Keep talking to the end of the timer

    If you run out of description, comment on the atmosphere or compare it with somewhere you know. Unused time is unrecorded language, and nothing can be scored from silence.

  7. Step 7:

    Never restart your answer

    If a sentence goes wrong, finish it roughly and start a better one. Going back to the beginning burns seconds and leaves two half-answers.

  8. Step 8:

    Rehearse with a timer and random images

    Open any photograph, give yourself the preparation window you expect, and speak until the timer stops. Do five a day and the frames stop being something you recall and start being something you use.

Mistakes that cost marks

  • Not thisThree seconds of silence, then ‘so… erm… this photo…’

    This‘In this photo, two builders are putting up scaffolding.’

    The opening is the most audible part of the recording. A prepared first sentence removes the one pause you can actually plan away.

  • Not thisStopping ten seconds before the timer ends.

    ThisAdding a comparison or an inference to fill the time.

    You are assessed on the language you produce. Unused seconds produce nothing, and there is no credit for finishing early.

  • Not this‘He is doctor.’

    This‘He seems to be a doctor.’

    The missing article is a basic error that is very audible, and the hedge protects you from being wrong about what you can see.

  • Not thisListing: ‘a car, a tree, a house, a dog, a bike…’

    This‘A car is parked under a tree, and a dog is waiting beside it.’

    A list shows no grammar. Even two nouns joined by a verb and a preposition show more than six nouns in a row.

  • Not thisRestarting the answer after a grammatical slip.

    ThisFinishing the sentence and moving on.

    Self-correction that breaks the flow costs more in fluency than the original error cost in accuracy.

  • Not thisSpeaking so quietly that the recording has to be strained at.

    ThisSpeaking at a normal conversational volume, at a fixed distance.

    What cannot be heard cannot be credited, and shifting position mid-answer causes both audio and proctoring problems.

Language this task keeps reusing

in the foreground
in the nearest part of the image
in the background
in the furthest part of the image
as far as I can tell
based only on what I can see
if I had to guess
a hedge introducing an uncertain conclusion
it looks as if
an inference from visual evidence
appear to be
to seem; softens a claim
what strikes me most
the thing I notice first
remind someone of
to make someone think of something else
all in all
considering everything; useful for a closing sentence
on the right-hand side
at the right of the image
be busy doing
to be occupied with an activity
atmosphere
the feeling a place or scene gives you
crowded
full of people
deserted
empty of people

Practice: speak about the photo

40 original questions. The first 10 are open to everyone. Answers are checked in your browser and never sent to us, so you can share this page with a class as it is.

1Complete the sentence with one word in the -ing form.

I can see a group of tourists outside a museum.
Which opening uses the first seconds best?

3Complete the sentence with one word.

The first thing I notice the long queue outside the cinema.
Decide whether each statement about speaking about a photo is true.
  • Silence produces nothing that can be assessed.
  • Finishing early shows confidence and is rewarded.
  • A fixed route through the image saves you from pausing to decide what to say next.
3 to go

5Complete the sentence with one word.

It looks a street market to me.
Which is the better use of the preparation window?

7Complete the sentence with one word.

As far as I can , the shop is still closed.

8A photo shows an almost empty café with one customer reading. Speak for about twenty seconds: write what you would say.

Which sentence shows the most grammar?

10Complete the sentence with one word.

What strikes me most this photo is the light.

Keep going

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Frequently asked questions

What if I run out of things to say?

Switch from description to inference and comparison: what the weather seems to be, what has probably just happened, what the scene reminds you of. Those three moves will fill any remaining seconds.

Is it a problem if I guess wrongly about the photo?

No, provided you hedge. ‘It seems to be a market’ cannot be wrong in the way ‘It is a market’ can, and hedging is exactly the language an assessor expects at this level.

Should I plan every sentence in the preparation time?

No — you will not have time, and reciting a plan sounds unnatural. Choose three things to talk about and let the frames you have practised supply the grammar.

How loudly should I speak?

At normal conversational volume, at a fixed distance from the microphone. Check the level before the section starts and then do not lean in or turn away.

Does hesitation ruin the answer?

Short natural hesitation is fine; long silence is not. The difference is whether you keep producing language while you think, which is what phrases like ‘as far as I can tell’ are for.