PTE ACADEMIC

jedh_g · March 2016

@markiemark yes congrats ulit sa atin. Daig ko pa yata pumasa sa board exams sa pag pass natin dito. By the way, I posted a thread for April 2016 visa aspirants in the process, join in there. What is your profession and AU state of choice to live and work?

engineer20 · March 2016

@sc_march try mo lang magcheck ng sked once a day. minsan kasi may mga nagoopen na slots sa dating fully booked na sked.

sc_march · March 2016

@jedh_g Thanks for sharing your experience. napakalaking tulong talaga ng forum na to, will keep in mind everything na shinare mo samin. Kaya to! Congrats sayo!

sc_march · March 2016

@engineer20 sige i'll do that. thank you sa advice!

check nalang ako everyday sana makakuha ng slot some time in april.

jkk32w · March 2016

@jkk32w hi..ask ko lang are you from dubai?

hello rina! oh yes! citizen for 9 yrs na dito lol (forever expat hugot!)i think i know u hahaha based sa last name mo.. kilala mona sino ako

Trish1208 · March 2016

@marzky Oo ganun pa rin nga...Scores not reportable pa rin. 2 beses na ako tumawag sa customer service sabi wait daw until Monday.

Trish1208 · March 2016

@jedh_g Thanks heaps for the time and for sharing. God bless. Happy Easter to all.

markiemark · March 2016

@jedh_g Accounting field ako at naka-base ako sa NSW.

Ikaw bro? Sige bisitahin ko yung isang thread salamat sa paggawa nun. Sayang talaga hindi pa dumating Skills Assessment ko, Pwede na sana ko mag pasa ng EOI kagabi hehehe. Umabot ka ba kagabi sa pag-apply?

Trish1208 · March 2016

@hannahmi oo nga good luck sa atin. sana pagpalain tayo ng nasa Itaas. God bless.

Trish1208 · March 2016

@marzky oo wala pa rin until now ung result ko. let me know naman kung may result na sya please. thank you. Happy Easter and God bless all of us.

jedh_g · March 2016

@markiemark nasa NSW ka na pala. I'm still at the Philippines. I'm currently employed in an american semiconductor company as a mechanical engineer. I'm about to be EOI updated ng agent ko on Monday kasi inabot ako ng holiday. Ok naman dahil positive na skills assessment ko sa Engineers Australia. Last December Visa 190 ako applied as state sponsored sa NSW pero since I had attained my desired score, idederecho na namin into 189 para any state na. Most likely I will prefer Perth kasi mas marami engineering jobs than at NSW. Malapit na ito, nararamdaman ko na. God bless.

Trish1208 · March 2016

@jedh_g Oo kapit lang malapit na yan. God bless and good luck to you and your family. Happy Easter.

marzky · March 2016

@Trish1208 wala pa din sya result.. lagi na nga kami nagcheck ng email at profile sa pearson.. Same status pa din.. Hopefully by monday meron na nga result..

dtrax · March 2016

ok lang ba na i-press next agad yung sa speaking part after umimik? para wala ng ma capture na ibang ingay or wait ng 3 seconds till mag close? tips naman dyan sa mga naka 79+ kasi target ko po yun.

Thank you

markiemark · March 2016

@dtrax Yes pwede. Pero ginagawa ko nagbibilang ako ng "1-2" pagkatapos ko magsalita just to make sure na na-capture ng system yung mga salita ko. "1-2', however, does not necessarily mean 2 seconds, basta nagbibilang lang ako.

Think of 90 as your target! This will unconsciously push your brain to work harder, and in the end you get your desired scores

dtrax · March 2016

@markiemark ok thanks

Kasi nung last take ko nag wait pa ako ng 3 secs habang nakangiti, hahahaa kasi pahinga kahit 3 secs lang, lol

dtrax · March 2016

eto lumabas sa akin pero pie chart lang diniscribe ko, hehe

wingleaf · March 2016

@jedh_g - thanks bro! this will help.

@markiemark - share ka na naman dyan bro!

markiemark · March 2016

@dtrax I don't recall smiling, butI recall thinking I was a news anchor on CNN while reading.

) And yes, lumabas din ang graph na yan sa actual exam ko. San mo nakuha yan? I don't recall seeing this befor the exam. Or maybe that's the goldfish in me (3-sec memory). ha ha ..

hannahmi · March 2016

Got my score, sablay pa sa speaking, hays aral n lng muna ulit and ill try again by april or May. Tnx pa rn s mga contributors s page n to,dami ko natutunan, ok nmn scores ko sa iba, i just really need to focus on how to improve my speaking skills especially pronunciation, gudluck s mga mg eexam p and congrats s mga graduate n s mamahaling English exams n to

markiemark · March 2016

Hi @hannahmi sorry to hear that. On a positive note, mabuti at 1 lang ang kailangan mo i-focus sa pag-aaral ngayon. Post ko ang tips ko shortly baka makatulong yun sa'yo.

markiemark · March 2016

WARNING: Medyo mahaba ang post na to. Sorry!!

>-

4 March - Researched about PTE-A
5 March to 14 March - Used practice materials that I downloaded using the links from this thread and other materials on “No.6” below
15 March Bought PTE-A Official practice materials
16 March Test B - LRWS 86 79 89 81 (Yep nauna ang test

16 March Scheduled PTE-A Exam
19 March Test A - LRWS 76 77 85 69 (Mababa score ko kase distracted ako while taking the assessment)
21 March PTE-A Test
23 March PTE-A Result LRWS 90 82 90 90

TIPS

1. Knowledge.It is important that you know everything about the exam, pre, during, and post. This helps lessen your anxiety (fear of the unknown).

2. Study Plan.This encouraged me to use my time wisely and helped me organise my daily life activities/tasks, squeezing in review and assessments before and after work.

3. Social Media. I did not use the likes of Facebook and Instagram the whole time I was preparing for the assessment (roughly 2 weeks). Instead, I used my spare time to enhance my LRWS Skills (to be discussed later). It’s also a good feeling that I wasn’t online for a few days. I literally logged off from all of my accounts para walang temptation.

4. Discipline and Time Management. Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment (Jim Rohn). This is what I live by pag kailangan ko mag-focus sa mga tasks, which means you can put your study plan to good use. I had to cancel all night outs para mag-concentrate sa exam.

5. Strengths and Weaknesses. Know what you’re good at as well as you weaknesses. This way you can prioritize the tasks that require more attention on your Study Plan. For me, I assumed that I will have a hard time with “Repeat Sentence” as I normally forget stuff online.

6. Review Materials. I used the following review materials: (1) the ones available on this thread, (2) Gold Pearson Official Practice Materials, and (3) Writing samples from https://www.scribd.com/ and http://dylanaung.blogspot.com.au/.

7. Target Store. My target score was 90 for all 4 skills (LRWS). When I took one of the local board exams in the Philippines, during the review time, my target was to be one of the top notchers! Alam ko sa sarili ko hindi ko makukuha yun sa dami ba naman ng mag-eexam, pero nakatulong yun para ma-inspire ako na mag-aral ng mabuti. In the end, although hindi ako top-notcher naging mataas ang score ko. Hindi ko ito sinasabi para ipag-mayabang ang kung ano man ang meron ako dahil hindi ko gawain yun. Para lang mas ma-explain ko ang sinasabi ko.

To end this, I know almost everyone on this thread are professionals. It’s hard to find time to study when you have work deadlines and tons of reports to finish. But here’s another quote for you: You are at your best when you’re fighting for something”. Magagawa at magagawa mong isingit ang review basta alam mo meron kang goal. No set goal means your brain will not be inspired to do the work. You need to condition you mind and body. For example, my first practice exam, para walang distraction, I took it from 12:30 am to 3:30 am (16 March 2016), ginawa ko natulog ako after dinner then gising ng madaling araw. Tulog ulit ako from 3:30 am to 6 am tapos pasok na ko work. Weekday kase ako nag-practice exam kase gusto ko na talaga mag-take ng official exam para matapos na ang pag-aapply namin. I think this last bit is the most important of all.

-----
Hey @wingleaf here it is

hannahmi · March 2016

@markiemark tnx sa mga new tips nyo ni @jedh_g, sana nabasa ko agad yun before my exam especially yung about target score, smiling before speaking part and being confidently positive, i know dun ako kulang. But im happy i tried it already, i know the feelings now, i still have a lot of time naman since we plan to wait until i give birth before we apply,, focus lng talaga sa pag review and practice. Medyo nkakahinayang lang. Here's my scores pala: L:68/R:73/S:56/W:81

jedh_g · March 2016

@hannahmi sad to hear that you have shortcoming lang sa speaking. Me as well, yan ang FOCUS ko when I prepared 2 weeks left before the exam. I printed samples and simulated my speaking skills. I had put an effort in this part kasi ito ang magdadala ng big part of your exam credit. Practice and even practice speaking to the point na kahit ano makita mong graphs, bar charts and even photographs kaya mo i-describe with the template you have in mind. Yaan mo, move on na. Tutulungan ka namin on speaking tips. Don't loose hope. Kaya mo yan!

@markiemark I suggested smiling while speaking kasi nakakareduce ng tension when you feel light and you will sound natural. Kapag kasi monotone ang voice as I checked sa online speech checker na ginamit ko, I sounded like a robot kaya scores will be affected. When I started smiling while speaking, tendency is for your mouth to be opened wide therefore making it more fluent and clear. Hope this make sense.

jedh_g · March 2016

@hannahmi of course give yourself a break as your condition is quite delicate as you're carrying a baby now. Do not be too hard on this exam. Anxiety nating lahat yan until the golden result is there but ako I tried to be happy at times during my daily review. As I am working, I find time to review by having my lunch early despite my office mates routine of "altogether" lunch buds. Napunta ako sa isang room sa amin at lower ground floor practicing my PTE review materials privately. One hour lang pero power review session. Sacrifice lang pero it doesn't have to be so hard without you enjoying. Mas napadalas pa nga panonood ko ng movies with my wife sa cinemas after work as my reward to myself pag nakuha ko isang aspect ng exam. Basta "learn sets of vocabulary words" per day to increase your data bank. This will sharpen both your speaking and writing skills and even reading as well.

I will leave you an inspiring method I used when I reviewed. Just do this religiously:

1. PRAY everyday.
2. ALLOT study time daily (at least 2 hours).
3. Prepare a WRITING NOTEBOOK that you carry daily. (Write the exam format+template)
4. MEMORIZE the speaking templates for "describe image" and "re-tell lecture".
5. DOWNLOAD audio podcast conversations from British Council app thru IOS or Android.
6. REWARD yourself for a job well done ( I have an acoustic guitar myself as my reward!)

Everything begins in seeing yourself that you can make this pass one day.
This is the power of "auto suggestion". Believe me it works!

rich88 · March 2016

@markiemark bro, ask ko lang. Did u do anything different on your 2nd mock test? Bumaba kasi from the first. Buti na lang d sya naka affect sa confidence mo at nakuha m pa rin ang almost perfect score.

In my case kasi, my first mock exam score was LRSW: 82/77/71/84. after second mock test, LRSW was 78/78/79/79. Lagi na lang akong kulang ng few points to reach 79 in all bands.

Hope u can share your insights or thought process. Thanks!

hannahmi · March 2016

@jedh_g thank you for the tips and encouraging words, God bless u din and your family sa next steps nyo

Trish1208 · March 2016

@markiemark Well said. thank you for the tips, inspiration and words of wisdom. I am still waiting for the result of my exam taken last 21 March. Good luck to us and God bless to all of us Pinoy.

Trish1208 · March 2016

@marzky Oo sana nga meron na sa Monday. Balitaan na lang tayo. Regards sa lahat and Happy Easter.

markiemark · March 2016

@rich88 Yung first exam ko (Test

yun yung madaling araw ako nag-take. Yung second ko exam ko (Test A) Saturday ng hapon yun medyo distracted ako sa ingay sa paligid kaya mababa ang score ko. Medyo disappointing nung kaya lang naisip ko, kung nagawa ko once na at least 79 ako sa lahat kaya ko yung gawin ulit. Positive thinking lang talaga and mind conditioning.