Sobrang thank you sa lahat ng nandito! Special mention kay sir @jedh_g na sobrang sipag magreply at magsend ng tips. Nakakainspire po yung stories. I feel like I owe a lot sa site na ito and I can't go by nang basta as reader lang, kaya I created an account to say thank you sa lahat ng nagshare ng tips, materials, and success nila. Gusto ko lang din ishare yung PTE journey ko. On my 2nd attempt last July 19 sa Makati, I passed with these scores:
<b class="Bold">Listening: 88 | Reading: 84 | Speaking: 90 | Writing: 90</b>
This is a miracle given that I ran out of time in Reading, yung last question hula na lang yun. And lalo sa speaking, kasi in one instance closed na pala yung mic kasi 40secs na pero di ko napansin at salita pa din ako nang salita. There were also 2 instances I think sa speaking part na nabulol ako nang slight. Siguro nadala ng confidence and tone kaya pumasa pa din 🙂
Meanwhile, these are my scores on the 1st attempt (July 4):
Listening: 80 | Reading: 90 | Speaking: 62 | Writing: 90
Sobrang crushed yung self-esteem ko after this because I thought I was ready. My mock exam result for speaking was 84. I was confident after the 1st exam kasi I thought I did everything right. I can't think of any major glitch na ikaka-62 ng score ko. Kaya just imagine my dismay. So after that 1st attempt nung July 4, at after ko umiyak nang maghapon, di na ko tumigil sa preparation. I listened to podcasts, read more tips on many blogs, did and re-did speaking tests sa YouTube. I even downloaded random graphs from Google Images at pinagppraktisan ko offline in timed conditions. Nung natapos ko na kasi yung practice tests, parang nafamiliarize na lang ako sa graphs e kaya parang alam ko na yung sasabihin, e ayoko nang ganun kasi gusto ko yung bago talaga sa paningin ko yung gagawan ko ng "Describe Image". And mostly, I prayed like I'm hopeless. I think kasi, ito yung message ni God sakin kaya I failed on my first try. Masyado yata akong naging confident sa mock scores ko kasi matataas na nga, even perfect sa ibang subjects. I relied on my own strength and I forgot to acknowledge God and manghingi pa din ng tulong sa Kanya. Truly, without Him, hindi talaga natin kaya. No matter how prepared you think you are, pray pa din and give back the glory sa Kanya.
Wala po akong formal compilations ng reviewers na ginamit ko. Mostly google and YouTube searches lang and those na posted na din ng members dito. I also purchased the Gold Kit, which was very helpful. Commitment, hard work, and prayers lang po talaga! And one important thing I guess is to keep your calm and focus during the actual exam. Your nerves could get the better of you and it would negatively affect you sa Speaking part, which is the 1st part pa naman. And pag di ka focused, you could be easily distracted kasi sabay sabay kayong magsasalita. So, mind your own, wag sila pakinggan! Sana nakatulong at naka-inspire ako kahit pano. God bless sa lahat ng takers of this exam!