@theunknownbox
Speaking Do’s and Don’ts
Do’s
Read the passage during the given extra time
Speak with purpose. What do you want to say or why do you say it. What I did, during practice, I translated the sample read aloud passages to Filipino then I read them. So kung ano kung tone ko sa Filipino, most probably ganun din dapat yung pagkakasabi ko in English.
Example:
Once most animals reach adulthood, they stop growing. In contrast, even plants that are thousands of years old continue to grow new needles, add new wood, blah blah blah.
Say it in Tagalog (sorry barok pero magegets nyo naman na):
Kapag matanda na ang mga hayop, humihinto na ang kanilang paglaki. Ngunit ang mga halaman, kahit gaano pa sila katanda, patuloy pa rin ang kanilang paglago. Blah blah blah.
Then, imitate your reading tone but reading the English version.
- For the other types in speaking, just RELAX. BE CALM. Be spontaneous. Like what I said, speak in English as if you are speaking in Filipino.
Dont’s
- Don’t shout. Whenever oral fluency is affected when shouting.
Read this by shouting:
Kapag matanda na ang mga hayop, humihinto na ang kanilang paglaki. Ngunit ang mga halaman, kahit gaano pa sila katanda, patuloy pa rin ang kanilang paglago. Blah blah blah
We don’t shout if we want to say this, right? We shout if we want to say words like: HELP! FIRE! RUN!
But these are not the words usually given in the PTE academic exam especially in read aloud.
Don’t speak too slowly. You don’t need to stress every word. Spontaneity is more important rather than saying every.single.syllable.in.the.sentence.very.very.clearly.
Don’t be distracted/pressured by your seatmates who speaks so loud. Sometimes, since the room is so noisy, we tend na makipagsabayan sa kanila and dun tayo nagkakamali. During my last PTE, a girl was shouting with all her might during the speaking test. Instead of being distracted, inisip ko nlang: “Naku ate, hindi mo ikakapasa yang pagsigaw sigaw mo.” Then I continued with my natural conversational reading. I still got 80 kahit na parang feeling ko hindi ako kasing effort magbasa ni ate na sumisigaw at ung describe image ko hndi ko lahat nadescribe ung info pero maayos ako magsalita, normal lang.
In summary, speak naturally. Kung paano ka makipag-usap sa tagalog (in terms of bilis at lakas), ganun lang din sa English. Hope this helps.