PTE ACADEMIC

allej · June 2016

pinoytalker said:

Justin said:
Lumabas na score ko I passed! Thank Goooood! Sana pasado din kayo lahat. Wooooo ang saya saya ko at nakapasa ako sa unang take God is Good!
congrats pre!dahil yan sa kfc haha

yehess.. paburger naman kayo jan... hahaha

Congrats ulit! Baka magkakabatch tayo sa July2016.

onting hintay na lang and lots of prayers.

Justin · June 2016

Tama!

pinoytalker · June 2016

@cheezy_pops oo ako nga yung nakajacket.. hehe. Ok rin ang strategy mo na magpalate.
@jella libre kita burger pag nagkitakita. Sana makapasok na tayo sa july 2016 invites.

pinoytalker · June 2016

@Justin 2 yung matangkad sa batch natin na nakita ko. Ako yung isa na nakajacket.

cheezy_pops · June 2016

Si @pinoytalker yun kulot, hihi *peace...

pinoytalker · June 2016

Hahahaha. Yung kulot salot.

@cheezy_pops

bourne · June 2016

Hi Guys,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank God and to all the members who shared their reviewers and tips in this forum. All the materials helped me a lot. And by the way, I also shared all the review materials with my colleague (we took the exam together, he got his desired scores as well

).

I took IELTS once but failed. Fortunately, I did it with PTE. I took the exam last Monday and received the result yesterday (Tuesday) - in 24 hours. Below are my scores:

LRSW - 83/78/85/81 (1 point na lang ang reading, 20 points na sana hehe)

To be honest, I was not expecting those scores because I was not confident with my performance during the exam, not to mention my English skills, particularly speaking and reading. In speaking, I know I made many mistakes in describe image, retell lecture and some in repeat sentence and short answer question. And I ran out of time in reading.

I am going to share with you my whole experience para man lang makabawi.

Disclaimer: This is not to boast but to inspire and to give more confidence

.. Sabi nga nila, kung kinaya ko, kakayanin nyo rin. Kaya nating lahat.

Testing Location - Pearsonvue, SG

Testing environment - I consider myself lucky because nobody occupied the cubicle on my right and I did not even hear the voice of the examinee on my left (maybe he was taking a different exam or something).

Speaking
- I honestly struggled on this. I was even worried because there was a breathing noise during the mic testing. I told the examiner but didn't even bother to check so I just went on with the test.

Read Aloud - I just read the paragraph in relax tone and in average pace. I used phrasing in most of the long sentences to catch breath (this is important in my opinion) and emphasized the important information. I don't actually know how to read aloud the perfect way.

Describe Image - Some of the graphs were rather complex like the comparison of two graphs. I got confused on how to describe these kinds of graph. Anyway, I just followed the template (I got from this forum) by giving the title, highest value, lowest value and conclusion (trend). I even stammered while speaking and mistakenly identified wrong values/numbers. I can rate my performance here 7 out of 10.

Retell Lecture - Even more challenging for me especially on the second item. The narrator in the second item speaks too fast and the topic is complicated. I caught only few words in this item. Consequently, I did not manage to consume the entire 40 seconds. I just retold whatever I wrote in the notepad and finished in 30 seconds or less because I ran out of words to say. Another thing is I found it difficult to read my own handwriting using the pen provided. I can still remember that my last sentence was incomplete because there is one word I could not read on my notes (hehe). 6 out of 10 is my rate here.

Repeat Sentence - The problem with this for me is that the dialog is quite fast. Aside from that, I could not understand one or two words in the sentence. Maybe, I only got 5 out of 10 sentences correctly. The other 5, I missed one or two words in each of them. Performance rating is 6 of 10.

Short Answer Question - There were questions where I need to get the answer from a picture/image. I focused my eyes on the monitor all the time during this section. However, I made a mistake of speaking immediately after the recording and not realizing there is a 2 seconds delay before the recording opens. I just realized it after the second question. Also, I was not 100% sure of my answers in 1 or 2 questions. Performance rating is 8 of 10.

Writing - I did ok in this I guess.

Summary Written Text - To be honest, I had difficulty in paraphrasing and thinking of different vocab/synonyms to use. I just wrote whatever I think is the summary by understanding the context of the topic and reused most of the words in the paragraph.

Write Essay - Writing is one of my weaknesses. I actually wished for an easy topic here. Fortunately, it was granted. My topic was "The means of communication has changed markedly, what do you think are the positive and negative impacts of this change in the society?”. I followed the essay format in writefix.com (visit this, very helpful). The format I used is introduction in the first paragraph, negative impacts in second, positive in third and fourth paragraph is conclusion. My technique here is I wrote minimum 200 words first. Then when I saw I still have time, I added more until it reached 260 words. I still had 3 mins to review my work. I finished the essay just on time.

See more below...

bourne · June 2016

Reading
- Another weakness of mine because I am a slow reader. Even in IELTS, I really struggled in reading (6.5 band score). They are right, there is time pressure. I ran out of time here because I was caught off guard with the change in sequence of the reading parts as compared to the one during my practice. Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop) came first, multiple choice - choose multiple answers was in the middle and then followed by reorder and Fill in the Blanks (dropdown) and last is multiple choice - CSA (more on this below). But I find some of the parts in reading in PTE easier than in IELTS such as Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop) and Fill in the Blanks (select from drop down).

Fill in the Blanks (drag and drop) - I found this easier in real exam than in practice test. I usually read the whole sentence to check if my selected word is the most appropriate based on context, grammar and collocation of leading and trailing words to the missing word.

Multiple Choice - Choose Multiple Answers - Luckily, the answers were given in the first paragraph, which saved me a lot of time in finding the answers.

Re-order Paragraph - This is the most difficult for me. I never got to reorder the paragraphs correctly during my practice. I had always 2 or 3 paragraph arranged in the wrong order. I was not 100% sure of my arrangement of the paragraphs in the actual exam. But I think the actual exam has the same difficulty as the practice test (except MacMillan which is too confusing and complex for me). I did not spend too much time thinking on this.

Fill in the Blanks (drop down selection) - Although there are choices that are confusing due to similar meanings, it was still a manageable one for me. Similar to drag and drop, I reread the whole sentence before moving on.

Multiple Choice - CSA - After the fill in the blanks (drop down selection), I had only few seconds left. One reason is, like I mentioned, the sequence. Another is the time allotted (practice test allows 41 mins - if I remember correctly, but only 31 mins in my actual exam). It's still my fault anyway, I did not manage my time well. So I just used the remaining seconds in guessing the answers (two items here) in this section. I could have done better to have my 20 points (hehe).

Listening
- In my perspective, listening in PTE is more manageable than in IELTS. You have the time to rethink your answer here before going to the next item. However, there is also a time limit in listening.

Summarize Spoken Text - I used the textbox provided on the screen to take down notes this time. This is quite similar to summarize written text except that you have to listen to a lecture. Usually, the lecture is slower, more organized and clearer than retell lecture.

Highlight Correct Summary - I took down a lot of notes here. Usually the correct summary is in sequence based on the lecture. I chose the summary closest to what I heard and understood from my notes.

Multiple Choice - Choose Multiple Answers - I read the question first before the recording starts. I also took notes while listening carefully here. And chose the best answers from what I heard based on the question.

Multiple Choice - Choose Single Answer - I read the question first before the recording starts. I just listened attentively here without taking notes. And chose the best answer from what I heard based on the question.

Fill in the Blanks - Again, I was focused on this. I used the words before the blank/textbox as signpost. I think I missed one blank here because I did not understand what the speaker said. I used the tab key to move to the next textbox. Also, I did not type the correct spelling of some of the missing words while listening. I just corrected them before moving to the next item. By the way, the speaker in the second item talked quite fast.

Select missing word (after the beep) - I just listened without taking notes here and chose the most appropriate answer based on the topic, context of the last sentence in the lecture and correct grammar and collocation from the selection of answer. Actual exam is easier in this part for me.

Highlight incorrect words - this is the easiest section of the listening. Still, you need to focus here. I used the mouse pointer in the screen while the recording was playing. Warning: the narration is fast.

Following are my tips based on my experience and opinion

1. Pray!
2. Practice, practice, practice. Review, review, review.
3. Focus, don't mind others in the room and mind your own business (hehe).
4. Listen carefully/attentively to every audio recording.
5. The transition is fast, so don't panic. Keep calm.
6. Familiarized yourself with the PTE-A exam types/format/sequence. If you know the type of exam that's on the screen, you do not need to read the instructions, which could save you time.
7. In listening, read the question immediately before the recording starts.
8. In speaking, don't get intimidated with the graphs. Follow your game plan (template). Remember, fluency and pronunciation are what they are after here.
9. In writing essay, quick thinking of content and fast typing is necessary. Gather your thoughts and type whatever comes to your mind. Sometimes, 20 mins might not be enough. So better follow a certain format (writefix.com) or even follow a template for your introduction, conclusion and the first sentence of the body paragraphs. (http://dylanaung.blogspot.sg/2015/04/useful-phrases-sentences-and-formats.html). Read on the PTE essay frequent topics (http://dylanaung.blogspot.sg/2015/04/pte-academic-essay-questions-and-ideas.html).
10. In reading, manage your time well. There is a timer on the right upper corner of the screen.

You should be fine.

PTE vs IELTS

Content / Exam Types
- Although the content/exam types of PTE is/are intimidating at first (special mention to describe image and retell lecture), it's more manageable in my opinion.

Scoring
- I think not only PTE is more generous/lenient when it comes to scoring, the scoring system of PTE is also better than IELTS. In addition, assessment on writing and speaking in IELTS can be done subjectively. While in PTE, being computer-based and based on some programmed artificial intelligence and logic, focuses more on grammar, vocab, spelling, fluency and pronunciation.

So that's it. Again, thank you everyone. Good luck and God bless.

Pasensya na, medyo napahaba pala. Pero sana may napulot kayong aral.

hehe

cheezy_pops · June 2016

Congratulations @bourne!!!

se29m · June 2016

@Justin congrats!

se29m · June 2016

@pinoytalker congrats!

se29m · June 2016

@bourne congrats!

bourne · June 2016

thank you @cheezy_pops!

bourne · June 2016

thank you @se29m!

allej · June 2016

congrats @bourne! sa mga nag thank you, you're welcome po! pay it forward please para marami tayong mga pinoy sa land down under!

bourne · June 2016

thank you @jella !

Justin · June 2016

Congrats sa lahat!

hoel07 · June 2016

Bro. / Sis, can you please include how many days do you prepare before taking PTE, also how many hours per day? especially for those 1st timer and no background on IELTs. i just want to have an idea. thanks and congrats. cheers..

kayetrish · June 2016

Hi guys? Ano mas madali PTE academic or TOEFL ibt?

liracoy · June 2016

guys pasend naman ng review materials nyo sa [email protected]

thanks a lot.. di ko na alam kung sino i-mention sa inyo, congrats to all who passed!

jedh_g · June 2016

@pinoytalker congrats to you! Move on ka na sa next step & God bless.

Iris15 · June 2016

Congrats to all who passed the exam lalo na sa mga kasabay ko last Tue!

liracoy · June 2016

@jedh_g @bourne @pinoytalker @filipinacpa @jella pasend naman po ng reviewers nyo sa PTE kung okay lang po.. thanks a lot po.. e-mail add ko po is [email protected]

Justin · June 2016

@hoel07 ako 2 weeks ako nagprepare for the PTE pero nung nag IELTS ako mejo maganda na score ko nun. Depende lng talaga kung anong level na ang english skills mo. If first time advise ko mga 1-2 months. Depende pa yan kung ilang hours ka magrereview sa isang araw. If gusto mo ng constructive criticism sa speaking send ka lang dito ng sample sound clips mo using vocaroo.

hopeful_mea · June 2016

I forgot my passport!!!wahh!!!exam ko ngayong 3pm, e im from Mindanao...anyone here nka xp na ng gnito? Ill try talking to them now kng pwd ibang IDs ipresent ko hayy

louietheresa · June 2016

Hi everyone newbie...first ako mag take ng PTE although 3 times nako nag ielts (negative) pano po ang process dito, pano magregister, san ang office nila, pano ang payment and how much. salamat po ng madami...

012216 - Submitted Docs to EA via Migration Agent
050616 - Received letter from EA requesting for Additional Information
060716 - Submitted additional information (ITR, SSS, Pagibig)
061516 - Received EA result (positive) 55 points

Konti na lang...

jedh_g · June 2016

@liracoy email sent. Good luck, focus practicing daily and pray!

Chillies15 · June 2016

hi to all and congrats sa mga nakapasa na... laking tulong po ng mga tips nyo from experiences and pwde rin po makahingi ng review materials please..email ko po ay [email protected]

jedh_g · June 2016

@Chillies15 email sent. Please check. FOCUS, PRACTICE & PRAY! Good luck & God bless.
You may also check my signature link for my PTE exam tips: http://pinoyau.info/discussion/4233/pte-academic/p156