Duolingo English Test Interactive Listening — Practice and Examples
You follow a conversation and answer questions about it as it goes, then write a short summary of what was said.
Practise Interactive Listening →
What it tests
Following a real exchange — who wants what, what was agreed, what changed — and then reporting it in your own words.
Worked example
The conversation (in the app you only hear it):
Tenant: The heater in the front room stopped working on Sunday and the flat is freezing.
Agent: I can send an engineer on Wednesday morning, between eight and twelve.
Tenant: I am at work until two on Wednesday.
Agent: Then I will book Thursday afternoon instead, but somebody over eighteen has to be inside the flat. If nobody is there, the visit is cancelled and the call-out is charged to you.
Tenant: My sister can come.
Agent: Send me her full name today and I will put it on the order.
- What has gone wrong?
- Why is Wednesday morning refused?
- What has to happen for the Thursday visit to go ahead?
- What does the agent want today?
Show the answers
- The heater in the front room has stopped working.
- The tenant is at work until two.
- An adult must be inside the flat.
- The sister's full name.
Summary task: Summarise the fault, why the first appointment was refused, the condition attached to the second one, and what the tenant must send today.
Model summary
The tenant's front-room heater stopped on Sunday. The agency offered an engineer on Wednesday morning, but the tenant works until two, so the visit was moved to Thursday afternoon. Somebody over eighteen has to be in the flat, or the visit is cancelled and the tenant pays the call-out fee. The tenant's sister will be there, and the agent needs her full name today so it can be added to the order.
How to do well
- Track the decision, not every detail: most questions ask what was arranged and why.
- Plans often change mid-conversation. The last thing agreed is usually the answer.
- In the summary, keep to the facts in the order they happened. Two or three clear sentences beat a long one.
Practice at three levels
Our practice for this task comes in three levels you choose yourself: Foundation teaches the format, Standard is 12 sessions plus 12 full tests at the level most candidates aim for, and Hard is another 12 + 12 with academic topics and tighter wording. Progress is kept per level, so you can move up when the current one feels easy.
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