I was a silent reader here, but I just want to share my good news after I received my PTE-A score today, a day after my exam! I got Superior English and first-time taker ako. Anyway super thankful to those good-hearted people here who shared their tips, templates and experiences while taking the exam especially kay @Supersaiyan @Roni.A. and to the others before him who shared what they knew would help others like me.
As a way of saying thanks to this forum, ito personal tips ko.
- Buy the PTE Gold kit or if hindi kaya ng budget, buy the Scored Practice Tests available from ptepractice website. Around Php 1,866 pesos per Scored Test I think if you'll buy it individually. Kunwari pinang-date mo na lang hehe. Since I had the Gold Kit, may 2 Scored Practice Test ako na kasama sa package but I was only able to use only 1 the night before my exam.
Why buy it? It may be a bit expensive, but naisip ko kasi if this will help me get my target scores in my first try, mas ok na yun instead na I have to re-take and pay another 13k! This will give you an idea about the exam's structure, vocabularies, style etc. During my exam, walang lumabas from the mock test, but the style was so similar -- more on technical English tipong those things that you read back in College. This is so helpful to gauge your "present" English language skills so you'll know where to specifically work on.
- Watch free and useful Youtube videos from E2 PTE Academic. Jay's videos were the best! Medyo lengthy nga lang, too technical pag minsan but very informative. I also checked some videos for quick tips from CareerCoves and Smit'S PTE, though I focused more on Jay's videos.
Since I only had less than 2 weeks to prepare for the exam, I made it a point to watch English movies din na mostly British accent ang gamit. Nagbabad din ako sa Games of Thrones and other documentaries sa Youtube. It really helped sa Listening part.
Get the free PDF Exam Memories from PTE Tutorials. Helpful siya for more practice tests.
Use the templates provided here as a guide. Better if you can make your own. But, during the exam, hindi ko siya nagamit word for word kasi I got nervous na. Masyado mabilis ang oras sa actual exam as compared sa Scored Practice Tests.
Simulate your practice tests in a noisy environment. Iba talaga kasi during the exam, like in my case na wood divider lang pagitan. Super ingay ng mga katabi ko. Kung hindi malakas na boses maririnig mo, ingay ng keyboards na akala mo galit sa mundo! So better na masanay ka na madami distractions sa paligid so during the exam, sanay ka na.
LISTENING:
Watch more British/Aussie videos. Mas madali mo na sila maintindihan sa exam after this. Easy na kasi for us Pinoys to understand American accent eh. Helpful ito sa Repeat Sentence and Re-Tell Lecture part.
SPEAKING:
Just talk, talk and talk lang. If you have the template, use it. Pag hindi kaya, basta make sure to mention the keywords kasi yun importante. Iwasan ang space fillers like Umm, Ahh at sobrang tagal ng pauses. Artehan mo if you can tipong pang Callcenter kung kaya din.
READING:
Practice more on Re-order paragraphs and Fill-in-the blanks (using synonyms)
WRITING:
Use the template if you can. If hindi kaya, make your own. Dapat BFF mo si S-V-O structure.
- Pray, do your best and let go!