Interactive Speaking

The newest task on the DET, added in July 2025 in place of Read Aloud and Listen, Then Speak. A Duolingo character asks you six to eight questions across two topics; you get thirty-five seconds each, you hear each question once, and what you say decides what comes next.

The Facts


Time	35 seconds per answer
Preparation time	None
How many per test	6-8 questions
Subscore	Speaking
Adaptive	Yes
Scored as	Speaking criteria

What You See

An on-screen Duolingo character asks a question out loud. When the question ends, a thirty-five second timer starts and a Record Now button appears. You click it and answer. Then the next question comes.

Six to eight questions in total, three or four on each of two unrelated topics.
Each question is played once. There is no replay and no transcript.
There is no preparation time. The timer starts as the question finishes.
Your answer is transcribed and scored in real time, and the result decides how difficult the next question is.
The topics are the same everyday and academic ones used elsewhere on the test. No specialist vocabulary is needed.

Because it adapts, questions getting harder is the signal that you are doing well. A set that stays easy throughout is the one to worry about.

The Shape of a 35-Second Answer

Thirty-five seconds is three to five sentences at a natural pace. It is long enough to develop one idea properly and far too short for two. The reliable shape is the same every time.

Answer the question directly in the first sentence. No preamble, no restating the question.
Give one reason. Why that is your answer.
Give one concrete detail. A number, a place, a person, a specific occasion.
Stop. Trailing off into a second idea you cannot finish costs more than ending five seconds early.

One question, one answer

Q: What do you like most about your neighbourhood?
A: "The thing I like most is probably how quiet it is at night, which sounds like a small thing but it makes a big difference when you study. It is about ten minutes from the centre, so I can walk in when I want to, but the street itself has almost no traffic after about nine. There is also a small park at the end of the road where people take their dogs, and I end up running there most mornings."
Direct answer, a reason, two concrete details, finished inside thirty-five seconds.

What to Do If You Miss the Question

You will not always catch it. The question is spoken once and there is no replay, so the recovery strategy matters more here than anywhere else on the test.

Say something about the topic. A partly relevant answer scores under Content, Fluency, Grammar, Lexis and Pronunciation. Silence scores under none of them.
Use what you did catch. One content word is usually enough to place the topic.
Do not announce that you missed it. "Sorry, I did not understand" spends your seconds and adds nothing.
Do not let it affect the next question. Each turn is scored on its own.

The topic switches partway through the set, usually after the third or fourth question. If a question feels like it has come from nowhere, that is probably the switch, not a mishearing.

Common Mistakes

Preparing a stock answer. The follow-ups are built from what you said, so a stock answer produces a question you cannot use it on.
Trying to fit two ideas into thirty-five seconds and finishing neither.
Speaking faster to fit more in, which costs Fluency and Pronunciation together.
Long fillers at the start. The timer is running while you say "um, well, let me think".
Treating the second topic as a continuation of the first.

How to Practise

Answer unfamiliar questions in exactly thirty-five seconds, daily. Length control is the specific skill this task tests.
Practise the "direct answer first" habit deliberately — most people naturally warm up for ten seconds, and here that is a third of the answer.
Have someone ask you follow-up questions based on what you just said, so you get used to being pushed rather than prompted.
A full six-question conversation with model answers is on the Speaking samples page.

Kirill O'Nayd, Duolingo English Test expert

Written by Kirill O'Nayd

English test expert and educator at TestSucceed, where he builds the Duolingo English Test practice tasks and mock tests and has spent years taking apart how computer-adaptive, AI-graded exams award their points. See all TestSucceed preparation materials.