Every year, millions of students worldwide choose to study abroad. While the experience is very rewarding, it can also be challenging to live in a new place, speak a different language, and experience a new culture, in addition to navigating day-to-day university life. Even the admissions process itself can present its own set of hurdles. Despite the obstacles, studying abroad offers today’s learners an enriching, transformative education.
A diverse group of test takers
Here at Duolingo, we have met many amazing international students through the Duolingo English Test, the world’s first high-stakes, digitally-native language proficiency exam. Our test takers come from all over the world, with many different first languages, backgrounds, and interests. The one thing they have in common is the desire to expand their horizons by studying abroad at an international university.
Duolingo English Test takers inspire us daily, so we invited them to share their advice in hopes of helping prospective international students plan their futures.
Real students share advice
On studying in another language
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“Studying in a language other than our native language might be challenging. We need to invest our time in order to study and engage with its culture to understand language as the whole. But in the end, it is all worth it. When we are able to access education abroad, we can have more connections with people across the globe, and broaden our perspective regardless of our background.” |
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On motivation
| “Personally, motivation was a deciding factor when I was thinking about studying abroad. I had to understand why I needed it, and what for. The main reason why I started studying abroad was to maintain and improve my English skills in terms of my teaching position. This can help you with fewer burn-outs, moving up the career ladder as well as with valuable experience. If things go wrong, it will be easier for you to stay on the right track when you know at the outset why you want to study there.” |
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On perseverance
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“My advice I would like to give to my fellow students who want to study at an English-speaking university is to have enough time to plan and prepare for it. Since my graduation from undergraduate studies, I have been applying for scholarships; but more than ten times, I received a simple answer like ‘We regret you have not been successful....’ and often, English language was the main elimination criteria. Regardless of the many ‘No’s’ received, I kept trying tirelessly until I made it.” |
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On life outside the classroom
| “University is what happens outside the classrooms as much as the inside. Even on a virtual semester, forming genuine connections and engaging with your interests gets you a lot further than a slight GPA bump ever will.” |
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On personal growth
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“What people don't tell you when you go abroad is that at some point, you'll also come back to your home country and you'll be a different person. You'll have grown, have learned and seen things that some of your friends might not, and made friends abroad who shared that study abroad experience with you. And that's the beauty of it all. Looking back at your semester, year, or degree abroad, it'll all seem so easy, but that only means that you've grown so much that the things that seemed hard or even undoable to you when you started your journey eventually became meaningless because of how much you've grown.” |
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On taking the Duolingo English Test
| “In contrast to other standardized tests, there isn't a formulaic method to nail the DET. If you want to do well in the test, incorporate English in your daily life in a way that is most natural to you. For example, that could look like texting international friends, reading books that interest you, and watching fun videos. As long as you are allowing yourself to be exposed to English on a daily basis through multiple dimensions, you are already doing the job to do well on the Duolingo English Test.” |
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A global perspective
In an increasingly global society, the opportunity to live and study in a new culture can be life-changing. As these students demonstrate, there are so many different ways to study abroad. With thousands of unique universities around the world (most of which accept the Duolingo English Test!), you will find the path for you. Best of luck on your journey!
If you’d like to explore the Duolingo English Test to certify your English any time, anywhere, visit us at englishtest.duolingo.com/applicants.
中文: 想去留学，心里没底？留学生小伙伴们为你支招！
每年，全世界都有数百万学生选择出国求学。有了海外留学的经历，人生中会有更多精彩。但是，留学也是一个不小的挑战：从开始申请到入学，就要越过大大小小的各种障碍；开启留学生涯后，不仅要面对日常学业，还要学会在陌生的环境中生活，说不同的语言，亲身体验不同文化的碰撞。总之，留学不易！但不得不说，海外留学所提供的教育丰富多彩，也更能充盈、甚至改变你的人生。
每个考生都有自己的故事
在多邻国，通过多邻国英语测试 (Duolingo English Test) 的平台，我们接触到了许多优秀的国际学生。多邻国英语测试是世界上第一个数字化的权威语言水平测试。我们的考生来自世界各地，母语不同、背景和兴趣各异。但他们的共同之处，就是都希望通过在海外求学的经历，让自己的视野更广阔，人生更丰富、更精彩。
有感于大家的求学热情，我们特地邀请了一些参加过多邻国英语测试的学生，来这里分享他们的亲身体验，希望这些建议能帮助未来的留学生们更好地规划自己的未来。
留学生小伙伴们为你支招！
用母语以外的语言完成学业
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“要用母语以外的语言完成学业，可能是很有挑战性的。要大体理解这门语言，就需要投入时间，来研究并真正接触其文化。但最终，一切付出都是值得的。不管来自什么样的背景，当我们在国外接受教育时，都可以与世界各地的人建立起更多的联系，拓宽我们的视野。" |
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留学动机很重要
| “就我个人而言，在考虑是否出国留学时，留学动机是一个决定性因素。我必须弄明白为什么要出国留学，又是为了达到什么样的目的。我出国留学的主要原因，是为了在教学岗位上保持并提高自己的英语水平。弄清楚了这些，会有助于你攀升职业阶梯，获得更有价值的经验，也少经历几次过劳倦怠。如果一开始就很明确为什么要去留学，那么在出现问题时，就不会轻易脱离正轨。” |
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要有恒心，能坚持
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“我要给准备在英语大学学习的同学们提出的建议是：要有足够的时间来计划和准备。本科毕业后，我一直在申请奖学金；但有十多次，我得到的都是‘我们很遗憾你没有成功’之类的答复。英语往往是我被拒绝的主要原因。尽管收到了很多个‘不’，我还是坚持不懈地尝试，直到最后终于成功。” |
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丰富课外生活
| “大学生活不仅仅是在教室听课，还包括课外生活。即使是在只能上网课的学期里，比起提高平均学分，还是建立真正的人际关系、发展兴趣爱好能让你走得更远。" |
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带来个人成长
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“出国的时候，可能你没意料到回国时的你，会跟出国前的那个自己不一样。这个新的你会变得更成熟，也可能学到、或看到过一些你的朋友们没有接触过的事情；你会结交到跟你共同拥有国外求学的经历的新朋友。这就是留学的美妙之处。现在的你，回想起当初在国外的那个学期、学年，或学位，一切都显得特别容易，但这其实意味着你成长了很多，所以那些在求学之初看似困难，甚至无法完成的事情，最终也因为你的个人成长，变得不足为惧。” |
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备考多邻国英语测试
| “跟其他标准化测试不同，DET 并没有公式化的备考方法。如果要取得好成绩，就要用一种对你来说最自然的方式，把英语融入到日常生活中的方方面面。比如，给国外朋友发短信、读你感兴趣的书、看好玩的视频等。只要坚持，每天都从各个层面不断地接触英语，就是在备考多邻国英语测试，为取得好成绩做准备。” |
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斯拉夫语言和文学博士 | |
全球视角
在日益全球化的当今社会中，能有机会在新文化中学习和生活，就有可能改变你的人生。看看这些留学生，每个人出国留学的故事都各不相同。要知道，全球各具特色的大学数以千计，而且大多数院校都接受多邻国英语测试！我们相信，你一定会找到最适合自己通往成功的道路。衷心祝愿留学之旅一路顺风！
想认证你的英语水平？欢迎你随时随地来参加多邻国英语测试！我们的网站： englishtest.duolingo.cn/applicants.