She Learned the Rule. Three Minutes Later, She Broke It Twice.
A student learned the do/make rule, confirmed she understood it, and broke it twice three minutes later. That gap is why DET scores stall, and why studying harder does not close it.
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Articles from our teachers on the DET, IELTS, and learning English — what actually moves a score, and what just burns your time.
Latest articles
Why You Run Out of Things to Say on the DET Speaking Test
You have the English, but on DET Speaking you go quiet a sentence or two in. The real problem isn't vocabulary — it's generating ideas under pressure. Here's what to train.
DET for Italian Speakers: 3 Habits Costing You Points
Italian speakers lose DET points to three habits: false friends, Italian information order, and all-certainty answers. A real student case: 90 to a certified 105.
DET Practice Test vs Real Test: Why Your Score Drops
Scoring 95-105 on DET practice tests but 90 on the real thing? The gap is not noise - it is diagnostic. How to read yours, with a real student case: 90 to a certified 105.
DET Fill in the Blanks: The 3 Things the Test Is Actually Checking
DET fill-in-the-blank questions test grammar tracking, vocabulary networks, and collocations. Most students practice only one, which is why the task feels harder than it should.
Why Your DET Production Score Won't Go Up (Even Though Your English Is Fine)
Stuck Production score? The problem may not be vocabulary or grammar. It may be that your ideas don't develop fast enough under the DET timer.
How to Prepare for the Duolingo English Test From B1 to 110-120 (4 Shifts That Break the Plateau)
Most students stuck at 110-120 don't need more vocabulary or more practice tests. They need to do four specific things differently — and most teachers never tell them about it.
The Sandwich Test: A DET Writing Diagnostic You Can Run on Yourself
A student wrote sandwich instructions, but we still couldn't make a sandwich. The gap it exposed is the same one costing DET test takers points on every writing task — and it has nothing to do with grammar.