Tips of PTE-A test from Expatforum:

Mike95
Few things you can surely note which would allow you to get more marks in PTE.

1)Time Management is really important, you can save time by clicking next button as soon
as you are done with the question, quickly recheck your answer once again mark my words
this will really help.

2) Do not waste time on questions like multiple choices, over here they will give you 200
words write up, go through it once, read the question, answer if you sure else leave as
multiple choices with multiple answers carry negative markings plus it will only fetch you 1
mark. so dont waste time.

3) Re-arrange para, 1 question could fetch you upto 4 reading points, try to link up the idea
mentioned, if you are unsure go with ur gut, but dont panic or waste time.

4) Max fetchable points.

a) Speaking - read aloud, repeat sentence, answer short questions
b) Writing - dictation, blanks (3 types of blanks), summary and essay
c) Reading - read aloud, blanks (2 types), highlight incorrect words, summary
d) Listening - dictation, blanks, highlight incorrect words, answer short, blanks, repeat
sentence.

Apart from these do not worry about other questions, even if you dont know the answer,
type/select/speak anything. But most importantly RELAX.
Concentrate only on the areas which is mentioned above, you are sure to get 65 plus in all
sections (subject to you response
eng.mohannad, OnlyAustralia and kkathare like this.

__________________
Regards

Mike

30/05/15 : EA applied
01/09/15 : EA positive outcome
233914 - Engineering Technologist
16/09/15 : PTE-A result (L/S/R/W - 86/78/74/77)
16/09/15 : EOI submitted claiming 65 points
05/10/15 : UK PCC
09/10/15 : ITA
13/10/15 : Visa lodged (189)
17/10/15 : Documents uploaded (including PCC, 80 & 1221)
22/10/15 : Extra documents uploaded (wife's resume & transcipts)
29/10/15 : Medical
04/11/15 : Direct Grant

mid Jan 2016

rajwin502 about speaking

I had the same problem too and eventually succeeded in cracking it.
Firstly realize that the scoring is done by computer/software. So what it essentially is
looking for is key words.
When you describe graphs - temperature and rainfall for example - the keywords the
software would be looking for are:
What does the graph describe?
What are the units?
Month of max temperature and rainfall
Month of minimum temperature and rainfall
One short sentence on overall trend. Say some additional info not directly indicated in the
graph.
For example- it does look like June seems to be the coolest month of the year.

Secondly, being loud any clear in certainly important.

Make a conscious attempt to speak without repeatation/ hesitation or pause
Speaking slowly is okay, but make sure the flow is continous and fluent.
In case you are lost for words, you continue to say something fluently and without
repeatation, even if they are not too relevant to the graph.
Don't try to complete within 30-35 seconds, that doesn't help. You are only ending up
missing an opportunity to provide more information especially on graphs. Remember this is
a speaking test, trying to gauge your speaking ability. Speaking less doesn't help. You can
keep talking toll the mic turns off.

In the repeat sentence section, be conscious of the fact, that you need to start talking only
after the mic turns on.
There is a time lag from the sentence completion to the mic turning on. Should you start
speaking immediately, the computer would not be recording your first few words, thereby
lowering your score
As you would be aware there is no beep in this session to prompted you to start talking.

Lastly, in the 'read aloud' session, speak with some energy, as it you were teaching a group
of students, or like a news reader.

All the above tips work 100%, I improved my speaking score from 60 to 84.

Good luck and let me know if you require any further assistance.
Do also refer to the tips on the least few pages on 'Practice Plus', there are some good
samples of what what the expectations are from the speaker.

Mandeepsapal about speaking

Here's the Tips for Speaking Section ! Cheer

1. Read Aloud :
READ ALOUD WHOLE SENTENCE EVEN BEFORE THE TIME STARTS & SEARCH FOR ANY HARD
VOCAB.

(1) SPEAK FLUENT, DON'T SPEAK SLOW !

(2) SAY CLEAR WORDS, DO NOT MUMBLE,
(3) CHECK SINGULAR/PLURAL,
(4) OPEN JAW FOR CLARITY

2. Repeat Sentence:
(1) CREATE A VIRTUAL MEETING ROOM IN MIND,
(2) LISTEN EASY YET CAREFULLY
(3) SPEAK CLEARLY, DO NOT MUMBLE ,
(4) OPEN JAW FOR CLARITY

3. Describe Image:

SPEAK 4 SHORT SENTENCES, WELL ORGANIZED , DO NOT USE CONNECTORS like

( HOWEVER, WHERE AS, IF & BUT, ON THE OTHER HAND)

(1.1)FIRST SENTENCE : INTRO/PARAPHRASING ON GRAPH (10 SEC)

(1.2) SECOND SENTENCE : PEAK/LOW VALUES (10 SEC)
(1.3) THIRD SENTENCE : ANY REMARKABLE CHANGE,
(1.4) FOURTH SENTENCE: CONCLUSION/OBSERVATION/FINDING

Tips:
(A) Say LOW , MODERATE and HIGH for TEMP/WEATHER GRAPHS.
(B) Say UPPER, LOWER, CENTRAL, ADJACENT, BESIDE, OPPOSITE for MAP/LOCATION TASKS
(C) SAY SUDDEN/STEEP RISE.. SLOW DECLINE. LINEAR INCLINE EXPONENTIAL RISE..STABLE
for VARIATION GRAPHS.
 4. RE-TELL:
(1) IDENTIFY THE TOPIC,
(2) START WITH SAYING "THE LECTURE WAS ABOUT/LECTURE IS ABOUT THE "TOPIC"
(3) DO NOT SAY EVERY POINT WRITTEN: SAY ONLY 3 MAJOR PTS.
(4) USE CONNECTORS: FIRSTLY, SECONDLY, THIRDLY,
(5) SPEAK SLOW BUT CLEAR,
(6) KEEP SPEAKING WHILE CORRECTING YOUR SELF,
(7) DO NOT MUMBLING

unlimitedme

Tips on Speaking section:

Speaking

1. Personal Introduction: spend few mins to give a background about yourself and
why you took PTE academic test.

2. Read aloud: Speak in moderate speed, do not RUSH! Break the text into chunks
and pause slightly between each one as you read. Use rising and falling intonation.

3. Repeat sentence: Take note on your pronunciation, practice with your handphone
recorder. DO NOT mumble! Try to mimic the speaker if you can.

4. Describe image: you would have 40 seconds to speak, do not pause more than 3
seconds! Fill in your blank space with anything like: If we look closer, this is actually
a very interesting image, etc... DO NOT USE umm, ahh, eh! I will put up a topic
separately to give you more sample to practice on this section.

5. Re-tell lecture: Use the image to anticipate the vocabulary, take notes for any
signposts to help you recognize the main points.

6. Answer the short question: concentrate on the question, speak with a firm tone.
Remember this task is NOT individually timed, you must click 'Next' to move on to
the next task. You would have around 10-12 task of this type. If you realize your
first answer was not correct, keep speaking and give the correct answer. You would
have ten seconds to give your response, the mic will close if there are more than
three seconds of silence.

Tips on PTE Academic test

I have been wanting to share tips on how to score well in PTE Academic test, but
haven't got the time to write. So let's start..

From time to time, I will revisit and update the tip.

Work has been taking much of my time lately...sorry guys!

1. Speaking

Personal Introduction: spend few mins to give a background about yourself and why
you took PTE academic test.
Read aloud: Speak in moderate speed, do not RUSH! Break the text into chunks and
pause slightly between each one as you read. Use rising and falling intonation.
 Repeat sentence:Take note on your pronunciation, practice with your hand
phone recorder. DO NOT mumble! Try to mimic the speaker if you can.
Describe image: you would have 40 seconds to speak, do not pause more than 3
seconds! Fill in your blank space with anything like: If we look closer, this is
actually a very interesting image, etc... DO NOT USE emm, ehh, aaahh! I will put
up a topic separately to give you more sample to practice on this section.
Re-tell lecture: Use the image to anticipate the vocabulary, take notes for any
signposts to help you recognize the main points.
Answer short question : concentrate on the question, speak with a firm tone.
Remember this task is NOT individually timed, you must click 'Next' to move on to
the next task. You would have around 10-12 task of this type. If you realize your
first answer was not correct, keep speaking and give the correct answer. You would
have ten seconds to give your response, the mic will close if there are more than
three seconds of silence.
2. Writing

Summarize a written text.

Write essay: First build an imaginary plot in your head and spend initial 5 mins
before you start typing. Look at some samples on Argument vs Discussion essay
writing, I will upload some sample if needed.
3. Reading
This section has the shortest amount of time, so take note the timing.

Multiple choice, choose single answer: pretty straight forward.

Multiple choice, choose multiple answers: DO NOT GUESS! Only select the answer if
you are very certain about it.
Re-order paragraphs: Identify the topic, then supporting paragraph, followed with
conclusion or closing paragraph.
Fill in the blanks: listen carefully.

4. Listening

Summarize spoken text.

Multiple choice, choose multiple answers:DO NOT GUESS! Only select the answer if
you are very certain about it.
Fill in the blanks.
Highlight correct summary.
Multiple choice, choose single answer:pretty straight forward.
Select missing word.
Highlight incorrect words: Follow the text by listening to recording, click on the
incorrect word. If you lost the track, DO NOT PANIC! continue to read on.
Write from dictation.

Sat123

Got my Pte results today and it's almost perfect (89/90/90/89). I had extensively gone
through the comments in the forum and it has greatly helped me. Just to give background -
I am convent educated, worked with US clients with very extensive daily interaction for
about 10 years but I got this score in my third attempt taken over a course of just one
month. I had to repeat exam as I was looking for 79+ score but was missing target for one
of them. My English has obviously not reached to a new level in one month but it's just
certain tricks which I learned from experience and have helped me. To share with you all -
1. I tried practicing speaking by using google search voice and ensuring that all words are
getting caught but it spoiled my speaking score big time in second attempt. So, don't ever
try doing that. Be fluent and natural without hesitation of your surrounding or co-test
takers. Don't focus on giving dramatic pauses on commas etc if it's not coming naturally.
2. Completely ignore content when you describe images. Obviously it should not be about
some irrelevant topic but make sure that you are speaking in flow. Checking algorithm can
not catch logical mistakes like person born in 1970 but died in 1960. If you get to a point
after 4/5 sentences where you think that you do not have anything else to say then do not
forcefully continue with staggered speech, it will bring your score down. Jump to next
question even if it's just 20-25 sec complete. I followed a standard approach - what the
graph is about, x-axis represents what, y-axis is what, which is highest value and which is
lowest. Then just jumped to next question.
3. Listening - follow a template. What is the topic of lecture, note down 3/4 important
points from the summary. Don't note down same sentences as spoken. Listen carefully and
note only the point which you can elaborate on. Don't worry, if you are not covering full
lecture in your summary.
4. Pay special attention to negative marking question. If you have doubt then it's better to
skip rather then marking and loosing marks.

All the best.

P.s. - taking practice scored test is going to help immensely. Formulate your strategy and
do a dry run with practice test. Obviously it would be cheaper then retaking test.

Kriti2015
For speaking section, Offline practice Test is very helpful as it has all explanation as well.

FREE PTE Academic Preparation - Pearson

Intro: Be fluent, even if you repeat anything its ok but do not use many fillers like umm,
hmmm, etc. It is not marked but fluency will be judged from this section onwards.

Read Aloud: Be fluent, do not stop more than 3 secs , use proper intonation (check official
guide to PTE-A or offline practice test), Do NOT USE ANY ACCENT- be in your natural voice
and accent (I have seen people using accent which makes pronunciation difficult), proper
stress on words and sentences.

Repeat sentence: Try to memorise the words, sentences etc. listen to news,radio etc and
try to memorise set of words.

Describe image: describe the major changes or figures, do not pause, don't worry too much
about the content, do not try to correct your words because you will make more errors by
doing this.

Retell Lecture: jot down the names, places, figures and end message of the speaker,you
have enough time to write, try to get the main idea, again-do not pause while the recording
is playing.

Answer Short Question: Make sure you answer in 1-2 words (depends on question).

In the end, make sure you click next when the recording status changes to complete.
Your test room can be really noisy as everyone will be speaking at the same time, so one
need to be an active listener.

I hope this helps

Anyway, have you given any scored test?

Thanks
Kriti

Queenie9072
I highly recommend webinars by E2 language for the speaking test, they'll show you how to
do it properly. You only get access to few free videos though and you have to pay to get full
access.