The read-aloud or elicited imitation questions on the Duolingo English test are designed to check your ability to read a sentence and pronounce it naturally. According to Duolingo, the software used on the test is able to check a number of pronunciation features including phonemes, rhythm, stress, and intonation.
You will be given between 4 and 7 sentences to read on the test.
This is one of the computer adaptive tasks on the Duolingo English test. This means that the difficulty of the next question will depend on how successfully the previous one is completed.
Example
Read the following sentence out loud.
I do not eat to live but live to eat.
Simple, right? Well, yes it is simple to read out a sentence. The difficulty is that you need to pronounce everything well.
Strategy
According to Duolingo, these tasks test your ability to read, understand and produce a sentence. Well, actually, you don’t really need to understand the sentence. You simply need to read it well.
The following steps should help you to say it better.
Step 1 – Check your Pronunciation
Before doing the exam, I would recommend checking your pronunciation generally with an English teacher. Tell the teacher you want to know if you have any pronunciation issues and then let them listen to you for a while.
This should give you a good idea what you need to work on before taking the exam.
Step 2 – Stress or Syllable Timed
English is a stress-timed language. Some languages are syllable timed however, including French, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Romanian, Turkish, and Korean. Check whether your language is
syllable or stress-timed. If it is stress-timed, skip this step.
The difference between these two types of languages is the rhythm. Syllable timed languages to give roughly the same emphasis to all syllables. Stress-timed languages emphasize certain syllables with the other syllables taking a shorter time to say.
For example, in the sentence “dogs chase cats”, each of the three words is stressed. We can expand the sentence to “the dogs are chasing the cats”. The bold syllables are stressed with the other syllables being shortened. This way, we should be able to say both sentences in the same amount of time.
Getting to grips with this will help you to sound a lot more natural in English, and far less like a robot.
Step 3 – Subvocalise
Before you say the sentence to be recorded, say it in your head. Try saying it without actually producing any sound, but still move your mouth. This will give you a sense of where the stress goes and how the other sounds are shortened (reduced).
While doing this, note where any pauses should be. Commas indicate a short pause.
Of course, you won’t have very long to do this in the exam, so practising with some sentences before is a good idea.
Step 4 – Breathe and Relax
Your best bet to deliver the sentence well is to be relaxed. Take a deep breathe before you say the sentence and try to just let it happen. Make sure you have had enough to drink before the test so your throat isn’t too dry also.
Read Aloud Question 1
Q1.Record yourself saying the statement below
“Hardly ever do I question my father’s affairs.”
Read Aloud Question 2
Q 2. Record yourself saying the statement below
“No one needs to know the truth behind her resignation.”
Read Aloud Question 3
Q 3. Record yourself saying the statement below
“We’re not going to see my mother this summer.”
Read Aloud Question 4
Q 4. Record yourself saying the statement below
“The election continue to take a back seat to everything else happening.”
Read Aloud Question 5
Q 5. Record yourself saying the statement below
“Don’t you ever wish you had someone to share your troubles with?”
Read Aloud Question 6
Q 6. Record yourself saying the statement below
“It is unlikely that they’ll show up now.”
Read Aloud Question 7
Q 7. Record yourself saying the statement below
“He used to play football professionally but he had to quit because of an injury.”
Read Aloud Question 8
Q 8. Record yourself saying the statement below
“You shouldn’t change your goals simply because they don’t fit in someone else’s plans.”
Read Aloud Question 9
Q 9. Record yourself saying the statement below
“What genre does the book fall into, comedy or tragedy?”
Read Aloud Question 10
Q 10. Record yourself saying the statement below
“The government needs to build up better relations with the private sector providers.”
Read Aloud Question 11
Q 11. Record yourself saying the statement below
I like tea, but I’m not a fan of coffee.
Read Aloud Question 12
Q 12. Record yourself saying the statement below
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away.
Read Aloud Question 13
Q 13. Record yourself saying the statement below
I like the way she laughs at my jokes.
Read Aloud Question 14
Q 14. Record yourself saying the statement below
You could go to the park now, but it’d be better later when the weather is warmer.
Read Aloud Question 15
Q 15. Record yourself saying the statement below
According to the article, the cost of living in Tokyo is among the highest in the world.
Read Aloud Question 16
Q 16. Record yourself saying the statement below
Do you like my shoes, yes or no?
Read Aloud Question 17
Q 17. Record yourself saying the statement below
We do not have to go to the office today.
Read Aloud Question 18
Q 18. Record yourself saying the statement below
She does not want to join us.
Read Aloud Question 19
Q 19. Record yourself saying the statement below
She studies at the local library.
Read Aloud Question 20
Q 20. Record yourself saying the statement below
My neighbors said they would pick me up from the mall.
Read Aloud Question 21
Q 21. Record yourself saying the statement below
Hey, I see you are struggling with that. Do you need some help?
Read Aloud Question 22
Q 22. Record yourself saying the statement below
I greatly appreciate you spending time with me but I have to leave now. I promise I will catch up with you soon.
Read Aloud Question 23
Q 23. Record yourself saying the statement below
Have a great weekend. See you on Monday.
Read Aloud Question 24
Q 24. Record yourself saying the statement below
If someone offers you something you don’t need, deny it politely.
Read Aloud Question 25
Q 25. Record yourself saying the statement below
I finally received my passport for our trip overseas.
Read Aloud Question 26
Q 26. Record yourself saying the statement below
Last week, she told the funniest joke in the middle of the meeting.
Read Aloud Question 27
Q 27. Record yourself saying the statement below
Tim went to the store, and he bought a new laptop for school.
Read Aloud Question 28
Q 28. Record yourself saying the statement below
Julie and Paige went to the amusement park and rode a rollercoaster.
Read Aloud Question 29
Q 29. Record yourself saying the statement below
I was exhausted after working all day.
Read Aloud Question 30
Q 30. Record yourself saying the statement below
We completed our homework after school.
Read Aloud Question 31
Q 31. Record yourself saying the statement below
Joe waited for the train, but the train was late.
Read Aloud Question 32
Q 32. Record yourself saying the statement below
They don’t go to school tomorrow.
Read Aloud Question 33
Q 33. Record yourself saying the statement below
We drink coffee every morning.
Read Aloud Question 34
Q 34. Record yourself saying the statement below
My Dad never works on the weekends.
Read Aloud Question 35
Q 35. Record yourself saying the statement below
My brother takes out the trash.
Read Aloud Question 36
Q 36. Record yourself saying the statement below
Julie talks very fast.
Read Aloud Question 37
Q 37. Record yourself saying the statement below
I and my sister don’t see each other anymore.
Read Aloud Question 38
Q 38. Record yourself saying the statement below
It was as if he was mocking him.
Read Aloud Question 39
Q 39. Record yourself saying the statement below
Anyway I’m not moaning on about how much I hate her, I’m just trying to tell you that I miss you.
Read Aloud Question 40
Q 40. Record yourself saying the statement below
Every child likes an ice cream.
