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Interactive Writing

Two prompts on one topic, graded as a single answer. The follow-up question deliberately asks for something you did not already say, which makes this the one writing task where holding an idea back is the correct strategy.

The Facts
Time5 minutes, then 3 minutes
Preparation time30 seconds before part 1
How many per test1 (two parts)
SubscoreWriting
AdaptiveNo
Scored asWriting criteria, both parts graded together

What You See

Thirty seconds to read the first prompt, then five minutes to write. The prompt stays visible while you type. When you submit, a second question appears on the same topic, and you have three minutes for that one.

Duolingo describes the task as modelling what happens in a seminar: a tutor asks you to write about something, then asks a follow-up to push your thinking further. Both answers are graded together on the four writing criteria.

The second question is built around the content of your first answer. It will ask for an angle you have not used — usually the drawbacks, the exceptions, or a concrete example.

The Strategy: Plan Two Answers, Not One

  1. In the 30 seconds, choose two angles. One for part 1 and one you deliberately keep in reserve. Positive then negative is the most reliable pair.
  2. Part 1: position, two developed reasons, close. Around 120 to 180 words. Do not use every idea you have.
  3. Read the follow-up properly. Thirty seconds of misreading here wastes the whole three minutes.
  4. Part 2: the reserved angle, developed. Around 80 to 120 words. New ground, not a restatement.
  5. Leave 20 seconds on each part to reread. Spelling and punctuation sit inside two of the four criteria.

Holding something back, in practice

  • Prompt 1: Choose one of the following inventions — the car, the telephone, or the microwave — and explain some of the ways it has changed people’s lives.
  • Part 1 uses: urgency collapsing, work spreading across cities, relationships surviving distance.
  • Prompt 2: Can you give specific examples of ways in which this invention has had a negative impact?
  • Part 2 turns the same three over: the work-life boundary becoming negotiable, fraud and nuisance calls, and the disappearance of considered letter-writing.
  • Nothing is repeated, and the second answer is visibly connected to the first — which is what the Content criterion rewards.

Common Mistakes

  • Emptying every idea into part 1 and having nothing left for the follow-up.
  • Repeating part 1 in different words. This is the most common way to lose Content marks on this task.
  • Ignoring the specific instruction in part 2. If it asks for examples, general reasoning does not answer it.
  • Writing part 1 as a list of unconnected points. Discourse coherence is graded across both parts as one piece.
  • Running the five minutes to the last second with no time to reread.

How to Practise

  1. Always practise both parts back to back under the real 5 + 3 clock. Practising part 1 alone teaches you the wrong habit.
  2. After writing anything, ask yourself "what did I deliberately leave out?" That question is Interactive Writing part 2.
  3. Build a small set of flexible sentence frames for taking a position and conceding a point, and practise filling them with different content.
  4. A full two-part prompt with model answers is on the Writing 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.

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