The Rules

The rules for the Duolingo exam are very important. You will take the test online from your own home, but you cannot interact with anyone else in the room, where earphones, or look offscreen!

Your head with your eyes down or looking forward must always be in the ‘screen area’ of your camera; thus, if you turn away for an extended period of time, the Duolingo examiners may cancel your test results, considering them to be fraudulent. Also, test-takers cannot take any notes or hold a pen at any time during the exam. This seems to be an odd rule as taking notes allows a person to organize their thoughts, but this is not allowed. Again, Duolingo test-takers need to practice so as not to get tripped up at their computer during the test. The rules can be found on the Duolingo website, but some of the important rules are found below.

You need:

1. a government-issued photo ID
2. a quiet well-lit room
3. one hour of uninterrupted time (no distractions – the doorbell may ring, but you cannot move from your place for the exam)
4. a computer with a camera, positioned so your head is clearly in the frame (for the entire exam)
5. an internet connection and a well-matched browser (there are rules for the browser as well so that it demonstrates the test-taker is not cheating in any way)