Crack PTE Academic in style! Part 1 — Speaking
“Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.”
Oliver Wendell Holmes
An English language test for non-native speakers is almost always scary, unless you have good command over the language.
There are various reasons one might sit for English language tests starting from planning to study aboard, immigration related matters or others. Today there are plethora of English language test options one can choose from i.e. IELTS (still the gold standard for many), TOFEL, PTE-Academic and others.
From the above list, PTE Academic is the one that is getting increasingly popular among students as a preferred English language test and its acceptance has increased among universitties as well. In this blog I want to focus on various tips and techniques to crack this one. I have wrote this exam two times in March 2022 and recently helped my wife and few friends to achieve their desired scores.
If you are thinking why another blog on topic which is vastly explored and discussed on youtube and other platforms, I can simply say from my experience that learning from difference perspectives especially from people who have experienced it first hand, can only help find nuggets of infomation, you may have missed to notice elsewhere.
Background: It all started in 2015 when I wanted to apply for an Australia PR and I choose to write PTE academic. I always considered myself above average in my English language skills but when time came to appear for the test, I got bit nervous about the test. In fact, I recall I prepared for 2 weeks and then opted for a cancellation just 3–4 days before the test.
Fast forward to March 2022.
I need to write the PTE Academic and PTE Academic UKVI for two separate requirements.
In fact, it turned out that I need to write both versions in the same week.
Long story short, I have 3–4 weeks to prepare but this time I was much more determined and focussed. I prepared a quick plan, stick to it for next 3 weeks. I got the desired scores with ease.
Below are my scores:
Basically, PTE Academic is a computer scored test so it can prove to be a big advantage or disadvantage depending on how you approach and prepare for this test. You don’t need to be a pro at your English language skills to excel in this exam (if you already are, great then ). As it is computer based tst there are certain techniques to master and get the desired scores.
In a nutshell, like any other English language test, it is divided into 4 sections: Speaking, Reading, Writing and Listening which you need to complete in one sitting.
First let me list down some general exam tips (please skip if you already know) and then I will focus on Speaking section.
General PTE Academic exam tips:
1. There are around 20 tasks in the exam but not all tasks carry equal weight. Some carry more weightage than others. While 7–8 tasks are super important, 8–9 are least important and other 3–4 are of average importance. Now this distribution carries a bearing on how you will practice for them. The minimum score in each section starts from 10, while maximum you can get is 90.
2. Most of the tasks cary marks across more than one section, for example task for Read Aloud Sentence contributes to other sections apart from Speaking section alone.
3. Speaking is usually the first section in the test. This is important because you will start your exam at roughly the same time as others in the exam room, and suddenly you start hearing everyone speaking (obviously everyone has Speaking section to start with). This can be very distracting to many people like me.
Strategy:
✤ Make sure you practice in such a way that you are focused during exam in spite of noise in the room. If get easily distracted like me, then ask your family members to speak some text while you are practicing for your Speaking exam. Initially you will find this very frustrating but slowly your mind adapts and gets trained. You can see the benefits of this practice during the exam.
✤ Practice your mock tests the right way: It is not how many mock tests you write during your preparation but you many of them you review in detail. As a rule of thumb, I follow a rule of 2:1 for reviewing any practice exam. For example, if I spend 1 hour for a test, I will set aside two hour to review it thoroughly and also make some notes for a later revision.
✤ Using keeping a separate diary for vocabulary list and common grammar errors has worked best for me (please use your digital softwares, if you are tech savvy)
5. Check the microphone before exam, keep it parellel to your mouth, usually not too close or not too far. Keeping it 4–5 fingers awayusually works for most people. Please don’t move it frequently. Test your markers before exam. You will be provided two markers for the test, please ask for them if not already provided.
9. During the exam, don’t hesitate and ask the staff for help if you face any technical issue (just raise your hand).
10. During the test microphone will stop recording after a silence of three seconds so avoid taking very long pauses while speaking. Move to the next task as soon as you finished speaking.
11. Some questions carry negative marks as well so follow the right answering strategy for the same, I will list them in respective sections.
12. Sometimes, while listening to a task, there can be some background music as part of the task or some videos/audios might be very clear to hear. Train your ears during practice to avoid any nasty surprises during the exam.
13. Use consistent English locale during the exam, you are free to use UK or US English but stick to one locale.
14. Prepare your fallback strategy for each task in the exam and practice this as well. THIS IS SUPER IMPORTANT.
15. Deep breathing between tasks helps to bring clarity in voice while speaking.
Useful pointers and tips for speaking:
There are 5 question types in Speaking (Intro section is not marked, use it for warmup).
1. Read aloud — This is one of the most important tasks in speaking and overall test. Usually you will encounter 6–7 questions with a rough weightage of 33%–36% in Speaking.
✓ Parameters on which you are tested are Fluency, Pronunciation and Content.
✓ Pay special emphasis on how you will pronounce words like in 1980, Charles the IV, $1000 as part of the text.
Strategy:
✤ Read the text fully once during prep timer paying special emphasing on difficult to pronounce words.
✤ As soon as you finish the task, click on next button.
✤ Practice your pauses, words where you need to stress etc.
✤ Pacing is important during this task.
✤ Pronunciation: Focus on Clarity not Accent.
2. Repeat sentence: This is another important tasks in Speaking and the overall test. Usually you will encounter 10–12 questions with a rough weightage of 35%–40% in Speaking.
Strategy:
✤ Move you next as soon as you complete speaking.
✤ Prepare your sentences for worst case scenario — for example, you could not grasp what the speaker spoke about or forgot it completely. At that point you can use your backup sentences.
Example: Today is very beautiful day and I am super excited. Yes, you will loose point in content but still gain in fluency and some pronunciation.
3. Describe image — This is a task with average importance in Speaking and overall test. Usually you will encounter 3–4 questions with a rough weightage of 14%–18%.
Strategy:
✤ Create template for yourself and follow that. You can find one sample in useful resources section.
✤ Try not to speak for more than 25–30 seconds dring this task. I think sepaking for 22–27 seconds is good enough to score full on the task.
4. Retell lecture — This is a task with significantly less importance in Speaking and overall test. Usually you will encounter 1–2 questions with a rough weightage of 6%-9% in Speaking. This is not to say that it does not require practice but comparatively less than others.
Strategy:
✤ Create template for yourself and follow that. You can find one sample in useful resources section.
✤ Practice noting keywords during the task, around 15–20 keywords are enough.
5. Short answer question — This is a task with least importance in Speaking and the overall test. Usually you will encounter 1–2 questions with a rough weightage of 2%-4% in Speaking.
In this task, you need to speak “One word or few words” to answer the question.
Example: How many quarters are there in year? Your answer: Four
Please comment if you need some commonly asked examples if you don’t find over internet and I can put some over GitHub.
Strategy:
✤ Practice some commonly and most asked questions.
This is one the tasks which carry least weight so you really don’t need to fret over loosing marks over this, but still if you can gain any that is always a bonus
Note: A lot of this “task importance” depends on your desired score, for example, all tasks including this can be important if you are targeting a 79+.
Frequently asked questions:
Q: How much time is sufficient for preparation?
A: Though it depends on the language skill level of the candidate, the desired score and time you can spend each day without distractions but I have seen 3–4 hour everyday for 3–4 weeks with right strategy should be sufficient for an non native speaker with average competence to score a good score.
Q: One question I usually find answering, do you need to buy a course for the preparation?
A: My answer is NO, not really. There are tons of free material out there on internet to practice. Still of you want to spend you can explore PTE academic official sample practice tests, though i did not purchased them.
Q: Do I need to speak in specific accent to have higher scores?
A: No, it is not required to be developed for this exam. For non-native speakers it is recommended to speak clearly at right pace (little higher than normal, usually).
I am big fan of improving things so would love your feedback, if you think I missed something or is incorrect or you want me to include/update, please highlight and I will make sure to review it.
If this blogs helps you, I will appreciate if you can pass this information along so that someone else can benefit. If you have a specific question, you can comment and I will try my best to answer that.
You can read my other blogs here or connect with me on LinkedIn.
Useful resources:
- Sample templates
- Official PTE preparation test
- My PTE Listening, Writing and Reading Blogs
Disclaimer: Above information is based on my personal experiences so please use discretion to see if the above tips works for you.
