PTE Academic Study Guide

PTE Academic Study Guide

Table of Contents Getting Started .................................................................................................................. 6 Introduction to PTE ............................................................................................................... 6 Planning your study .............................................................................................................. 6 FREE PTE Course .................................................................................................................. 7 Premium PTE Course ............................................................................................................ 7

PTE Read Aloud.................................................................................................................. 8 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 8 Concepts ................................................................................................................................. 8 Method ..................................................................................................................................... 9 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 10

PTE Repeat Sentence ....................................................................................................... 12 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 12 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 12 Method ................................................................................................................................... 13 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 13

PTE Describe Image ......................................................................................................... 15 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 15 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 15 Method ................................................................................................................................... 16 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 16

PTE Retell Lecture ............................................................................................................ 19 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 19 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 19 Method ................................................................................................................................... 20 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 21

PTE Answer Short Question .............................................................................................. 23 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 23 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 23 Method ................................................................................................................................... 24 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 24

PTE Write Essay ............................................................................................................... 26 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 26

Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 26 Method ................................................................................................................................... 27 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 28

PTE Summarize Text......................................................................................................... 30 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 30 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 30 Method ................................................................................................................................... 31 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 32

PTE Reading Multiple choice Single Answer ..................................................................... 34 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 34 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 34 Method ................................................................................................................................... 35 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 35

PTE Reading Multiple choice Multiple Answers ................................................................ 37 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 37 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 37 Method ................................................................................................................................... 38 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 39

PTE Reading Fill in the blanks........................................................................................... 41 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 41 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 41 Method ................................................................................................................................... 42 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 42

PTE Reading Writing Fill in the blanks .............................................................................. 44 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 44 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 44 Method ................................................................................................................................... 44 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 45

PTE Reorder Paragraphs .................................................................................................. 47 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 47 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 47 Method ................................................................................................................................... 48 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 48

PTE Summarize Spoken Text ............................................................................................ 50 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 50

Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 50 Method ................................................................................................................................... 51 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 51

PTE Listening Multiple choice Multiple Answers ............................................................... 54 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 54 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 54 Method ................................................................................................................................... 55 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 55

PTE Listening Multiple choice Single Answer .................................................................... 57 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 57 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 57 Method ................................................................................................................................... 57 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 58

PTE Listening Fill in the blanks ......................................................................................... 60 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 60 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 60 Method ................................................................................................................................... 61 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 61

PTE Highlight correct summary ........................................................................................ 63 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 63 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 63 Method ................................................................................................................................... 64 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 64

PTE Highlight Incorrect Words ......................................................................................... 66 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 66 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 66 Method ................................................................................................................................... 67 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 67

PTE Select Missing Word .................................................................................................. 69 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 69 Concepts ............................................................................................................................... 69 Method ................................................................................................................................... 69 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 70

PTE Write from Dictation ................................................................................................. 72 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 72

PTE Write from dictation Concepts .................................................................................. 72 Method ................................................................................................................................... 72 Tips and Tricks..................................................................................................................... 73

Getting Started Introduction to PTE PTE (Pearson’s Test of English) Academic is an English proficiency test just like the more famous IELTS and TOEFL. The exam is a muchpreferred option for candidates wanting to meet their visa requirements for Australia. The major reason for the wide popularity of PTE Academic is the fully computerized nature of the exam. Writing and Speaking responses which are marked by a human examiner in IELTS, are scored by a computer algorithm in PTE. This removes the human bias and makes the exam fair and equal for all. Pearson is a leader in automated scoring technology that has been developed after extensive research of several years. The use of computers not only makes the scoring equal for everyone, it also leads to faster turnaround. Most students receive their score card in just a couple of days.

Planning your study Your time and resources are limited. Therefore, it is important to use them for maximum benefit. Most of the candidates studying for PTE, are doing it along with a full-time job, university and family responsibilities. It becomes difficult to maintain the focus and use time effectively. In such a situation, planning your study becomes even more necessary. If this is the first time you are taking the PTE and have at least a month to spare, then you can start with the basics and gradually build up to the exam day. If, however, you have taken PTE before but failed to achieve the target in one or more sections, you will need to put in more time into preparing for that section. All of us are not equally good or bad at Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening. It is not uncommon to find someone who speaks very good English but struggles to write a paragraph and vice versa. Therefore, please spend some time understanding your strong and weak points and then develop a study plan that best suits your particular situation.

FREE PTE Course Sure Way English provides a FREE PTE course which contains some of the materials from the Premium PTE course. You will get to experience lecture videos and real exam like mock tests. If you have not already done so, you can sign up for the FREE PTE Course at https://surewayenglish.com/pte-free-course

Premium PTE Course If you are looking for a PTE course which covers everything that you need to get a high score in PTE, then the Premium PTE course is for you! It contains 100s of lecture videos, practice tests, full length mock tests as well as guidance from our expert tutors. This is by far the best PTE Preparation available anywhere! https://surewayenglish.com/pte-online-course

PTE Read Aloud Introduction The very first question type that you will face in your PTE exam is the Read Aloud question type in the PTE Speaking section. This is a simple enough question type. You will see some text on the screen. You will have 30~40 seconds to read the text, understand it and prepare your response. After that time the microphone will open up. You will then have 30~40 seconds to record your response. The question type contributes to your reading score also in addition to the speaking score. How well you score depends on how natural and comfortable you come across in your spoken response. If you are able to read the sentence properly without mistakes and your response demonstrates fluency, correct pronunciation, appropriate emphasis and flow of speech, you will get a high score.

Concepts Let’s first see the basics: Number of questions

6 to 7

Scoring

Contributes to Speaking score

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

35~40 seconds to read the sentence and prepare a response 35~40 seconds to record your response

If you study and work in an environment which uses English language, you will find this question type simple enough. Most of us have to read reports, give presentations, read passages from text at work or study. This question type is just like that!

However, if you are not in a habit of reading out English texts, especially reading them out for others, you will need sufficient practice. Please note that reading a text is very different from reading it aloud! When you read it aloud your focus is on how to make others understand the text and get it’s meaning across. If you can do this well, you can score high marks in this question type. Your score depends upon first of all, how well you read all the words in the text. Reading the content accurately is very important. If you miss a lot of words or read a lot of words incorrectly, you will lose marks. Rest of your score depends upon your oral fluency and your pronunciation. Try to sound as natural and fluent as you can. This question type also contributes to your Reading score. After all you can only record correctly if you have read the text and understood it well.

Method You will have 30~40 seconds to prepare your response. This is like your rehearsal time. Identify any words that you might find difficult and try to speak them out. In your mind plan how, you will handle the long text – for example, you must figure out where you will pause in the sentence. As a rule of thumb, you can pause on punctuations – commas, full stops, etc. Try to not come across as monotonous. In your experience, you might have come across people who speak like a robot. As a result, other lose interest in what they are saying or just simply fail to understand which parts of the sentence are more important than others. You need to vary your tone when speaking. Raise your tone and lower your tone at appropriate places. Give indication to your listener. Tell him when you are starting a new sentence, when you are coming to the end of a sentence. Your tone variations serve as these guiding points. Not all words in a text are equally important. Some words carry more weightage because they influence the overall meaning of the text. These words should be spoken with some emphasis. Identify a few words in the text – usually adjectives or adverbs and put some stress on them when you speak.

If there are any words that seem new to you or seem long and complicated, try speaking them before the microphone opens up. Often you can break a complex word into smaller parts and figure out how to pronounce it. If after all attempts the word still seems difficult, just pronounce it the best you can, even replace it with a similar simpler word if needed. You can use the 30~40 seconds you have to figure out all of these things. This is part of your preparation. Once the microphone opens up, keep your eyes on the text in the screen and start speaking. In your mind you have already decided where to pause, where to raise your voice, where to lower your voice, which words to emphasize and how to handle the difficult words. Use this information while delivering your response. When speaking, there is no time for second guessing. Don’t hesitate, don’t override what you decided earlier during preparation. If you do your fluency, your pace, your pronunciation can all suffer and adversely impact your overall score.

Tips and Tricks With some practice it is possible to easily get a high score in these questions. Here are some tips and tricks that you should follow: Pause at these places Usually you need to pause at punctuation marks – commas, full stops and conjunctions such as and, but, etc. If a sentence is very long you can also break it at a logical point. Don’t overthink about where to pause or not. Just follow these indicators. Emphasize just the right amount Some people take emphasizing and stress to an extreme. You don’t need to stress at every second seemingly important word. If you do, you will sound very unnatural. Just pick 3~4 words, maybe one in each sentence and simply emphasize those. Vary your tone properly Usually when you begin your sentence, you raise your tone and when you come to the end of a sentence, you lower your tone. This is an easy guideline to follow. Don’t raise and lower your voice so much that it sounds like someone is singing.

Break through difficult words Don’t hesitate and stop to think about difficult words. Just keep speaking. Rush through them, replace them with a simpler similar word. Hesitation is your number one enemy in this question type. Speak in larger chunks Someone who is good in a particular language, usually can read and speak a bigger part of a sentence in that language. To convey the same impression in English, you should try to speak a bigger part of the sentence in one go. When you practice, start by speaking 3 words at a time, then gradually increase the number of words you can speak in one go. But don’t set a fixed pattern when speaking. If you always speak 3 words, 3 words, 3 words, you will sound like a robot. Mix it and make it sound natural. Practice reading daily Simple daily practice – even reading a couple of pages from a newspaper will help you a lot in your preparation. Not only will you improve your speaking skills but also increase your vocabulary. We strongly recommend resources like Ted Talks! Be confident at all costs Even if you doubt your English-speaking skills, when you are speaking, you should try to sound as confident as possible. Do not doubt yourself. You are just recording in a computer program. Think of it as a dumb machine. Speak loudly and with full force It is important that your response is captured properly by the microphone. Only then can the software assess it in the right way. Ignore the others sitting around you in the exam room and just focus on your own speaking. Don’t mumble words, they should come out of your mouth completely. Don’t be lazy!

PTE Repeat Sentence Introduction If you can listen to short English sentences and repeat them correctly, you can get a high score in this question type. This question type is a simple test of how well you can listen, understand and then reproduce what you have just heard. In the exam you will hear a short sentence and immediately afterwards you have to repeat it and record it in the microphone. Your score depends on how much of the sentence have you been able to repeat correctly i.e. how many words did you get correct. The remaining score depends upon your pronunciation and fluency. You will get almost 10~12 questions of this type. Together they can contribute substantially to your overall listening and speaking scores.

Concepts Let’s first look at the basics: Number of questions

10~12 questions

Scoring

Contributes to the PTE Speaking and PTE Listening section scores

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

3 seconds before the audio starts. Microphone opens up 1 second after the audio ends. You will have 15 seconds to complete your response.

When you are listening, your focus should be on understanding the meaning of the sentence. If you understand the theme and the meaning, remembering words becomes easier. This PTE Question type has partial credit. You will get marks for the words that you are able to repeat correctly. If you pause for more than 3 seconds, the microphone will close and you will not be able to complete your

response. So, keep that in mind! There is no point hesitating and thinking too much in this question type.

Method There are only a few seconds before which the audio will start playing. In these few seconds make sure to focus yourself on listening. When the audio starts try to remember the sentence, the words in it and the meaning conveyed. It can occasionally help to take some notes, especially for longer sentences. But note taking should not be at the cost of understanding the sentence. We also recommend our students to try to remember the sentence visually. That is, paint a picture in your mind corresponding to what you have just heard. Once the audio ends, the microphone will open up. You should then try to repeat the sentence as correctly as possible. There is no time to think, remember or check yourself. The right approach is to give it your best shot right away. Even if you feel you have made a mistake, forgotten a word or mispronounced a word for example, just keep moving. You will be judged on your pronunciation and fluency. If you think too much or if you haven’t practiced your vocabulary or English speaking skills beforehand, it will reflect in your pronunciation and fluency.

Tips and Tricks Listening to simple short sentences and repeating them is an easy task if you put in sufficient practice hours before exam. Follow these tips and tricks for getting a high score: Focus on the meaning If you understand the meaning you will be able to repeat the sentence much more accurately. Trying to remember each and every word on the other hand can become quite burdensome and difficult. Don’t mimic the speaker Don’t try to mimic the speaker. Instead try to understand and the tone and bring about the same expression in your voice. For example, if the speaker is emphasizing on a point, you can also put stress on it. But if you try to copy the accent, each and every up and down in the speaker’s voice, you will just get confused.

Remember visually Try to see when you hear! Draw a mental picture and when repeating look at that mental picture. This along with taking a few notes is the best way to remember the sentence. Abbreviate the sentence We don’t recommend this as the preferred method but for some test takers who find it difficult to understand or remember the sentence, this might be the only practical option. In this approach you try to write down the first letter of each word or the first few letters of each words. When you speak you will look at this short form and use it to reproduce the complete sentence. Brush up your vocabulary Go through the Academic word list and make sure you are familiar with the words that are most likely to appear in an exam like PTE. Knowing the words means you will easily recognize and remember them when you hear a sentence. Get used to listening English audio If you do not work or study in an English speaking environment or are new to it, you must get used to listening and speaking English in the days before your PTE Exam. Check out a resource such as TED Talks.

PTE Describe Image Introduction One of the key language skills is the ability to look at a visual and understand it and describe it to others. In your studies or in your work you will often find yourself in situations where you have to interpret visual data. For e.g. you might be required to make a presentation, with some graphs and charts in it. Or you might have to understand a map and explain it to others. This is essentially what the PTE Describe Image question type is about. You will see an image on your screen and then describe what it is about. The software will assess your response on a number of parameters. The question type can appear quite daunting in the beginning, but with a well-developed strategy and well-practiced method and templates, you can soon start to do very well in it.

Concepts Let’s look at the basics! Number of questions

5~6

Scoring

Contributes to your speaking score.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

30~40 seconds to understand the image and prepare your response 30~40 seconds to record your response

You will find a variety of images in your exam. The most common types are: 1. Pie-charts 2. Bar graphs 3. Line graphs

4. Maps 5. System diagrams 6. Process diagrams 7. Photos 8. Table 9. Mixed type images Mixed type images are graphics that contain multiple image types. For example, a question that has a bar graph as well as a table. Your score in this question type will depend upon how well you are able to identify the key information in the image and then how well you frame that in your response. You can find plenty of academic images in business and economic sections of newspapers such as The Australian.

Method It is important that you speak about the key information in the image. This is not a test of your analytical skills, so don’t worry about capturing each and everything. Your response should follow a proper structure and your speaking should display good quality of pronunciation and fluency. In our PTE coaching program, we go through each and every point in detail. In the 30~40 seconds that you have, first of all try to understand the overall theme of the image. This will give you your opening sentence. Next, capture 2~3 main points. These are the points that capture the key trends, the comparisons, the highs and the lows of the image. Finally, if you have some time, give a smart insight as your conclusion. If you are running out of things to speak, you can give a general conclusion corresponding to the image type.

Tips and Tricks The describe image question type is something, which with sufficient practice can ensure you a high score in the PTE exam.

Don’t get lost in details Too many test takers try so hard to capture each and every detail in the image that they lose focus and fail to deliver a strong response. You don’t have to sound like someone who is confused and, in a hurry, to read a long list of points. Capture a few points, connect them properly and deliver them in a well-structured response. That will get you a much better score. Speak at the right Some of you think speaking too fast is all you need to do to achieve a high speaking score. Others think speaking slow and putting a lot of stress on each word is needed. However, what is most important is that you speak naturally! What is natural coming from you might not be the same for someone else. So, you must practice, practice and practice to determine what is the optimal speed at which you should speak to sound most natural. Give a structured response Your response should have a well defined beginning, a middle part and a conclusion if possible. It shouldn’t be like someone has taken separate sentences and is just reading them one after. The points should follow each other naturally and should be well connected grammatically. Use templates with care Templates give you a good way of structuring your response. Since you already know how to begin and end your response, you won’t have to spend time figuring that out. The mistake that test takers make is – they don’t use the templates properly. For example – don’t use the same template for each describe image question which says – “This image describes…”. Instead try to have different templates for each describe image type question. This will make your response much more targeted, giving you a better score. Get timed practice Always make sure that you practice only in a timed environment. Responding to a describe image question in 2 minutes is very different from responding in 40 seconds. The quality of your response depends directly

on the time you spend. So, if you want the best outcome form your practice, keep a timer near you.

PTE Retell Lecture Introduction The PTE Academic exam contains question types that mimic real life situations faced by people studying or working in an English environment. One of the most interesting question types in the Speaking section of PTE is the PTE Re-tell Lecture question type. Imagine you are attending a seminar or a university lecture. A friend was supposed to come with you but could not because of some reason. Afterwards, when you meet the friend he asks you to tell him about the lecture. That in a nutshell is what the re-tell lecture question type is about. You will hear a lecture and then have to “re-tell” it or in other words describe what it was about. How well you score depends upon your ability to listen and comprehend spoken text and on your ability to give a well structured response containing the key points from the text. This sounds like a daunting task to several test takers, but you will soon see that with adequate preparation and by following correct methods you can do very well in this question type.

Concepts Here are the basics that you need to know: Number of questions

3~4

Scoring

Contributes to Listening and Speaking scores.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

Lecture starts playing after 3 seconds. Once it ends, you will have 10 seconds to organize your response and then another 40 seconds to record your response.

The best way to approach Re-tell Lecture questions is to just treat them like a normal classroom or work conversation. Don’t stress about capturing each and every piece of information in the audio. As long as you are able to get the main idea and couple of important points, you will do fine. Most of the times you will have an accompanying picture with the audio. These days Pearson has also started giving video lectures. In either case you have a visual beforehand to look at and understand what the lecture might be about. Don’t ignore it! Even if your mind gets a little hint about the audio, it will pick up the information much better. Most American and British universities have put up some of their course lectures as free podcasts on their websites. These are a good source of daily practice. For instance, check out this excellent podcast series from Yales.

Method The picture is also useful when you are not able to understand anything at all from the audio. Then you can make some statements based just on the visual. Once the audio starts, try to understand the theme and the main points. Take some notes. All you need is 2~3 good points to give a good response. Look out for words that refer to a person, place, thing, event, incident, etc. Words that indicate the beginning of an explanation, a relationship between different parts or an example are also important. Which are these words? Some of these are – because, therefore, however, but, for instance, for example, firstly, secondly, finally, etc. There is a complete lecture on the signpost and connecting words that you can use in PTE Academic, in the Premium course. Once the audio ends you will have 10 seconds to organize your response before speaking. Having a template in mind helps to quickly organize the response. If you already know how to begin the first sentence, how to end your response and how to include the main points in between, you will be able to deliver a well-structured response quickly. As soon as the microphone opens, start speaking. Speak confidently! Focus on your pronunciation and fluency. Even if you have doubts about the content of your answer, don’t worry about it now. Deliver a complete structured response within the time given to you.

Tips and Tricks The biggest mistake that some test takers make in this question type is not following a well defined method and strategy. You can’t leave it to chance. Follow these tips to maximize your score. Have a template in mind Have a structure that you will use to deliver your response ready in your mind. Practice speaking the opening sentence and the concluding sentence again and again. In the exam if you spend time thinking too much about how to organize your response, how to begin, how to connect or how to conclude, it will reflect adversely in your spoken response. Your fluency will suffer as a result. Don’t let that happen! Don’t repeat same thing again and again Make sure to have 2~3 good points and then speak about them properly in your response. You don’t need too many points. You should also not make the mistake of repeating the same thing again and again. The only exception if when you don’t have anything else to talk about. In that case definitely repeat the point, but if possible, in different ways. Deliver a structured response within given time Keep an eye on timer always. If you see the time is running out, instead of speaking only half a point, try to move to the concluding statement. It is important to demonstrate that you know how to begin and end an explanation. Make use of the picture Often the picture with the lecture can tell you quite a bit. In case you find the lecture very difficult, you can speak a few points based just on the picture. Don’t ignore it. Also look at it when listening to the lecture. Try to understand how the audio relates to the picture. This way you will understand much better. Focus more on fluency and pronunciation Don’t worry so much about “what to say” that you ignore “how to say” it. Keep your response simple. You don’t need to dig out every single point that might seem important. Follow a simple approach and focus on delivering the response properly.

Keep some filler statements ready This goes hand in hand with the use of templates. Prepare a few generic statements to use in your Re-tell lecture responses. When you can’t think of anything else to say, you can use these statements. For e.g. – “The lecture gives very insightful information about the topic in question.”

PTE Answer Short Question Introduction Ever had a friend ask you a question, which you answered in a word or two? Well! The Answer Short Question type is the same. You will have 10 to 12 questions of this type in the exam. You will hear a short question and you have to answer it in a word or a couple of words. No need to make full sentences! Recently, Pearson has started including images and videos in their questions. For e.g. you will see a map and the question will ask you a specific detail from that map – such as, in which block is the Library located. In a nutshell, if you don’t panic you will be able to answer these questions quite well.

Concepts Let’s get the basic details out of the way Number of questions

10 to 12

Scoring

Contributes to both the Speaking and Listening scores.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

Microphone opens up after a second. You will get 10 seconds to record your response.

The questions in this type, cover a wide range of general knowledge topics. You are not expected to have any specialized knowledge to answer these questions. The Answer Short Question type in PTE gives you a chance to score really well and in turn increase both your speaking and listening scores. Unlike other speaking questions, you only need to speak for a very short time. This makes it the easiest Speaking question type.

Method The method here is simple! You listen to the audio and then without thinking too much, give your best answer in a word or two. The key here is understanding what is being asked. There is usually no time to take notes and review them. Your focus should be one hundred percent on understanding the question. The questions usually come from topics of everyday general knowledge. None of the questions will require you to have any specialized knowledge. As long as you don’t panic or overthink, you should be able to give the right answer. Daily practice of listening to English audio and making sense of it will help you not only with this question type but a lot of other sections of PTE Academic. That is why we once again recommend TED Talks.

Tips and Tricks Even though Answer Short Question type is one of the simplest question types in PTE, test takers still end up making silly mistakes. Keep in mind the following and you will do well. Do not panic As we mentioned earlier, do not panic. This is one of the biggest mistake you can make while attempting questions of this type. They won’t ask you complicated questions. You do not need to have any specialized knowledge to answer these questions. Most questions come from everyday general topic, which you would have come across in daily life or work. Even if a question sounds complicated, it will probably have a simple answer. You just need to follow the question. Do not think too much Thinking too much can harm your score! We have seen students think too much and apply convoluted logic to simple questions. As a result, they end up giving wrong answers. The correct answer in most cases is the simplest answer, the natural answer. Our favorite example here is: Which piece of furniture will you usually find in a bedroom?

The simple answer is – a bed, because there can’t be a bedroom without a bed! But some students think too much and end up answering – a cupboard, a couch, a sofa, etc. It’s true that these other things are also found in bedrooms, the most common and most obvious is – a bed. Concentrate 100% There are 10~12 questions of this type in the exam. And they all come one after the other without a break. People start answering the questions very well, but by the time they reach the 6th or the 7thquestion, they somehow lose their focus. It is almost like they get bored! And that reflects in the answer in your voice. You must avoid this. Start afresh after each question. Think of each question as the first one. Review your vocabulary How well you understand a question and how well you answer it depends upon how much you understand the words in the question! It comes down to your vocabulary. If you have a large enough vocabulary you will know most of the words that will appear in these questions. For example – if you know what a “newspaper” is or what an “editor” is, you will be able to answer most questions related to newspapers, articles, editing, etc. Our advice is make sure you are thorough with the Academic Word List. Students of the Sure Way English premium course can also take the free vocabulary course to brush up their vocabulary. Do not hesitate, give the first answer that comes to your mind Most of the times, what comes to your mind first will be the right answer. Simply go ahead with it. If you think too much or go back and forth again and again you will increase the chances of making errors. Avoid this at all costs! Draw a picture in your mind This is a very useful technique which we recommend to the students of our online PTE course. When you hear the question and the specific words in the question, use those words to draw a picture in your mind. Then answering the question is simply a matter of looking at the picture and picking a specific information from it. For example, if the question is about a university matter, you can draw a university campus, students etc. in your mind. This is a very effective technique and reduces the chances of errors.

PTE Write Essay Introduction No English proficiency test is complete without an Essay type question. In the PTE Academic too you will write one or more essays on a given topic. This is a comprehensive test of your writing skills but begins with how well you can understand the given topic. Not only should you be able to understand the topic, but also what is asked of you. For example, do you have to write an essay explaining your position on the topic or do you have to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the thing mentioned in the essay topic. Your score depends upon how well you answer the question prompt, the richness of your language, the structure of your writing and the correctness of your grammar and vocabulary.

Concepts Let’s first look at the basics: Number of questions

1~2

Scoring

Contributes majorly to the Writing score

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

20 minutes for each essay. Unused time does not carry forward to other questions or sections.

You will have 20 minutes to write the essay. The essay should be between 200 and 300 words. A length of around 250 words is usually sufficient to convey the main points and display sufficiently good English writing skills. How you use the 20 minutes is very important. A lot of test takers don’t have a proper time management strategy. As a result they end up with a poor quality response.

Method You should always spend the first few minutes – 1 or 2 minutes on understanding the topic and what is expected of you. Being very clear about the topic will help you come up with good ideas to write. The next couple of minutes should be spent upon coming up with ideas. If it is an advantages/disadvantages question, you can come up with 3-4 ideas in total. A lot of test takers complain that they are not able to come up with any ideas to write about. This is actually not true. Maybe you are not used to thinking in English, but you can certainly think about the topic in your native language and then come up with ideas, that you can then translate to English. You don’t need to come up a ton of ideas! Often 3~4 points are sufficient to write a good essay of about 250 words. What is more important is that you make the most of each idea. Get the maximum juice out of it. In your paragraphs, first introduce the idea, then develop the idea in the following sentence or two and finally, add an example. This will ensure you get the maximum mileage out of each idea. Once you have the ideas, use them to first build a skeleton. This will ensure your essay has the right structure – Introduction, Couple of main paragraphs and then a Conclusion. In each main paragraph you can include one or two ideas. A good essay is one which is easy to read and understand. It is the writer’s responsibility to guide the reader. If you jump from one idea to another abruptly you will confuse the reader. Therefore, make sure you connect your sentences and paragraphs properly. Use linking words that demonstrate the relationship between sentences and paragraphs. Once you have written your essay, leave a few minutes in the end to review the essay and make further improvements. It is almost always possible to improve what you have written the first time. In your final review, look out for these things: •

Check that you have written strictly on the given topic. It is not uncommon for test takers to lose their way after the first paragraph. For example, an essay that is about the overcrowding in big cities, can end up as an essay on pollution or housing problems in big cities. Don’t get into one point so much that you miss the overall picture.

•

Make sure you don’t repeat the same point again and again. Discuss an idea in one place only. Once you begin an idea, develop it fully and then close it. Don’t keep jumping to it in the subsequent paragraphs.

•

Check for grammar mistakes. Have you used the appropriate sentence structures, punctuation etc.?

•

Check for vocabulary usage. You should try to demonstrate a rich vocabulary. A good way to do that is by using synonyms.

Tips and Tricks As long as you follow the basic rules of good essay writing and construct a well structured response, you should be able to get a good score. Follow these tips and tricks to maximize the score: Identify the type of essay In the very beginning identify the type of essay correctly – agree/disagree, advantages/disadvantages, etc. This will guide what kind of information you need to include in the essay. If you want to use a template, this will also help you to select the correct template for your response. Use templates wisely Having templates is a good way to write a safe essay. We recommend our students to write as unique essays possible if they want to achieve maximum score. However, templates are very useful in cases where the score target is moderate. But before you write an essay around a template, you should make sure you have the right template. Don’t just prepare one template. Have one template for each type of essay questions. Don’t start writing immediately First brainstorm, come up with ideas and put them in a skeleton. Only then start writing around that skeleton. This will ensure you end up with a good structure and don’t have to rewrite parts of your essay. Pick the safe side In the essay writing question it does not matter what you personally feel about a particular topic. You should pick the side which is easier to write about. For example, if you support high rise buildings in cities, but think it

will be easier to come up with points against high rise buildings, then just pick that side. Often it is easier to take the middle road and acknowledge the merit in both sides. On the one hand this makes coming up with points easier, on the other hand this gives you a chance to use language that illustrates relationships between opposing ideas. Don’t try to max the word limit Don’t think that writing as close as possible to 300 words will get you the maximum marks. It is much better to write lesser but make sure that whatever you write is flawless. This is much better than writing too much but making mistakes in the sentences or just repeating the same points again and again. Diversify your language In the end simply revisit your essay and replace some words with their synonyms. If you feel a word has been used too often, it is a good candidate for replacement with another word. Get some reading and writing practice The more you read, the better you can write! If you read a variety of texts – articles, reports, stories, you will become familiar with a wide range of sentence structures and language usage patterns. Then you can use the same in your writing and achieve a better result. Therefore, make some time everyday to read a bit and then write on the same topic from your own perspective. Any newspaper website is good enough for this, a good example is The Age.

PTE Summarize Text Introduction The PTE Writing section has only two question types. One of them is the Summarize Text. In this question type you will read a text and then have to write a one sentence summary of it. Having to write only one single sentence complicates this question type a bit. It puts spotlight on our grammar skills more than anything else. This is also a test of your reading comprehension. Can you read a text and get the main ideas out of it? Can you separate a text into what is important and what is secondary information? If you can do all of these things, you have a good chance of getting a high score in PTE Summarize Text.

Concepts Let’s first look at the basics: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to both Writing and Reading scores.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

10 minutes for each summarize text. Unused time does not carry forward to other questions or sections.

You will have 10 minutes to read the passage and write your response. It is vital how you utilize this time wisely.

Method First, spend a couple of minutes reading the text starting from the beginning. With each sentence you will get a better idea of what the text is about. When you are reading, you can shortlist the sentences that you think represent the key points in the text. When you read you should ignore the examples, supplementary information and any unnecessary details. For example, if the first sentence introduces a key point such as global warming and the second and third sentences are examples of the impact of global warming, then you don’t need to include the second and third sentence. Once you have the key points, your next task is to combine them into a single sentence summary. There are two approaches you can take here. If you are confident of your language skills you can just write down the gist in your own words. But most of us do not have English skills at this level. We can then consider the second approach. In this approach, you write the key sentences one after the other. Then you paraphrase them – change the language as much as you can, use synonyms etc., make them look like your own sentences. Finally, you can combine them into one single sentence. To do this you will use conjunctions and punctuations as appropriate. Make sure to leave a couple of minutes in the end to review what you have written. You should first of course review for the content. Does the summary contain the main ideas contained in the text? If someone who has not read the main text reads your summary will he be able to correctly tell what the text is about? If the answer is yes, then great! you have captured all the key points. If not, you need to add more information to what you have written and possibly also take out some information which is not needed. Check that your response is within the word limit. It should be maximum of 75 words and not less than 5 words. An optimal length would be around 35~40 words, provided you can capture all key details in it. Also review for grammar, spelling and punctuations. Since, you have to write only one sentence it is vital you connect different parts of the sentence properly. Sometimes test takers just put commas between

independent sentences and think they have converted it into one single sentence. That is wrong! You have to use the appropriate punctuation and conjunctions.

Tips and Tricks Here are some useful tips and tricks to help you get a high score in PTE Summarize Text. Pick the key points only The goal of your initial reading of the text should be to identify sentences which contain the key points. Ignore everything else. Your summary should only capture the key points. Don’t use complicated language Use simple sentence structures to avoid unnecessary grammatical errors. Using complicated sentences does not mean you will get a high score. Don’t refer to the passage Avoid beginning your summary with sentences such as “In the passage…” or “The author…”. Your summary is an independent sentence which should on its own convey the main points to the reader. The reader does not know that there is a long text to go with this summary, so don’t give its reference. Stick to the word limit Don’t write more than 75 words. It is almost impossible to write less than 5 words which is the official lower limit for summaries. An optimal word limit is around 35~40 words as long as you can fit the key information in it. You can write more than that provided you don’t make grammatical mistakes. Leave time for review Use your time wisely and leave time in the end for a thorough review of what you have written. You review should cover: •

Content: Have I covered all main points?

•

Grammar: Have I used correct sentence structures? Have I connected the different parts of the sentence properly?

•

Vocabulary: Can I improve the vocabulary? Can I replace some words with synonyms?

•

Punctuation: Have I used the correct punctuation while forming the single sentence.

Learn from newspapers In a newspaper article, often the main points are summarized in a blurb or a box. Look at the articles and see how they write the summaries, how they figure out the main points. You don’t need to make special time for this, this can be part of your daily core skills reading writing practice. Any newspaper will do, even Google News. Pick any article that is current and interests you.

PTE Reading Multiple choice Single Answer Introduction The Multiple choice, Single Answer question type in the reading section of PTE is the simpler of the two multiple choice question types in this section. You will see a text on screen and answer a question based on that text. You will be given some options out of which only one is the correct option. How well you in this question type is directly dependent on your ability to comprehend written English text, understand the meaning, the theme and the main ideas in it. If you are also able to read long texts and find specific information in it, you will do well in this question type.

Concepts Let’s first look at the basics: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to Reading score.

Negative Marking

No

Time to answer

No time limit on per question basis. Be aware of the time limit for the overall Reading section.

This multiple-choice question type tests your reading comprehension. In other words, it tests how well can you understand the ideas presented in a medium to long text. The questions you face may require you to dig out a specific detail from the passage or they may require you to understand and answer based on the overall theme of the passage. It is therefore important that you know what exactly to look for in the passage. When you read the text, you should be clear about what kind of information are you looking for. Is it a specific detail or is it an understanding of the opinion expressed in the text?

Building reading skills can take some time. Therefore, make it habit of reading some general text every day. Any major newspaper such as The Australian is a good option.

Method The first thing you should do is read the question prompt. Next read the options. Together this will give you sufficient information to go ahead and start reading the passage. As we discussed earlier, do not read the passage without any context. You must always read it with the specific goal in mind. What exactly is the information you need? You can first skim through the passage to get an overall idea of the theme and the organization of information in the text i.e. which paragraph or part of the text talks about what. After that you can scan through the passage to either look for a specific detail or validate the given options. Once you find a reference to the options in the passage, you should read that part of the text again. Also read the sentences before and after to make sure you understand the whole context. Sometimes, the meaning changes after a couple of sentences! Before you submit your answer make sure to look at all the options. Eliminate the wrong options, don’t be a hurry to select the first option that looks right to you.

Tips and Tricks If you can read an English text in a reasonable time and follow simple steps discussed in the previous section, you can do very well in this question type. Follow these tips and tricks to maximize your score: Never read the text in the beginning You must always first read the question prompt and the options. Once you do that, you have some guiding points which can guide your reading. You will know exactly what to look for in the text. If you immediately start reading the text, you will just end up wasting precious time. Find and validate Once you find a reference to an option in the text, don’t immediately decide whether its correct or not. You must stop and validate it in the context of

other sentences around it. Read the sentences before and after. That will give you more context. Don’t confuse almost with the whole Some options look similar but are not! For example – an option that says 90% of people like coffee and an option that says all people like coffee. Someone who doesn’t pay attention can often confuse 90% with most or all. That is why you should always read all the options and look for the very specific information. Don’t base a decision on your personal judgement All questions require you to answer based on the text. Even if the topic is something you are very familiar with, you should still not use your own judgement. The text might be focused on a limited time frame, or past or future or just a different set of conditions than you are aware of. So, even if it is something whose answer you know from your general knowledge, you should still read through the options and validate them against what is in the text. Keep an eye on the timer Don’t get lost in any one question that you forget others. Keep an eye on the overall timer for the Reading section. You must decide before the exam, how much time you are going to spend on each question type. Don’t just match words Don’t depend simply on finding matches between words in the options and in the text. You should read and try to understand the whole sentences to make a proper decision. Quite often, you will not find a match between the exact words but can find one with a synonym. So look out for synonyms and other words which might mean the same in that context.

PTE Reading Multiple choice Multiple Answers Introduction If you have taken any English proficiency exam before, you will be familiar with the famous multiple choice question type. This is the same! You will see a text on the screen and have to answer a question based on the text. You will find a number of options and you have to select all the correct options. In this question type, more than option is correct. There is negative marking! You will lose marks if you pick a wrong option. So, be careful and don’t make random guesses. How well you score in this question type depends upon your ability to read and understand a passage in English. If you are able to understand the theme of the text, the implicit and explicit meaning in it, find out specific details from the given text, you will be able to score well.

Concepts Let’s look at the basics to begin with: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to Reading score.

Negative marking

Yes

Time to answer

No time limit for an individual question. Be mindful of the overall Reading section time limit.

The questions in the reading multiple choice sections can be of few types. They can ask you to pick out the right or wrong sentences. What does that mean? That you have validate each and every sentence against the information in the passage.

The other type might ask you to identify the passage’s theme or the writer’s opinion. This can be stated in a different form, such as which of the following statements will the author most likely agree with. This tells you that you should be able to understand what the overall idea expressed in the passage is. Another type of question is the one in which you will have to find out specific information from the passage. For example – Which of the following events happened before 1970? Which of the following forms of government are least popular in the world? In these questions you will have to look into the passage for specific information on each of the given options. Two skills which are vital in reading passage questions are – skimming and scanning. Skimming is when you quickly go through a passage to get an overall of the passage or of the organization of information in it. Scanning is when you go through the passage to look for some specific information. Check out this Wikipedia article to learn more about Speed Reading. Please note, this question type has negative marking. If you select a wrong option, you will receive a negative mark, for a minimum total of zero i.e. your score in any one question of this type cannot go below zero despite the negative marking.

Method The first thing to do in these questions is to read the question prompt and the options. This will help you understand what is expected of you. If you understand that, you will know how to read the passage – whether you should look for specific information or try to understand the overall theme of the passage. Next, you should go through the passage, with the options in mind. When you come across any information related to an option, stop there and validate the option against the information in mind. Don’t just match words! You need to properly understand the sentence and what it means in the context of the passage. At this stage, you are just shortlisting the options. They are not final yet. Once you have gone through the passage, again read the question prompt and the options. It is possible that by the time you read the end of the passage, your understanding of a particular option might have changed. That is why never make a final decision before reading the whole option.

Go through each option and decide whether it is right or wrong in the context of the question. Only then submit your answer. Please remember, there is negative marking, so it is better to select just one option that you are confident of, than select the ones you are not sure of and risk losing marks.

Tips and Tricks Following the steps we just discussed, will make it easy for you to attempt questions of this type. Here are some more tips and tricks to help you maximize your score in Multiple choice, Multiple Answers. Understand correctly what is asked of you You must understand the question prompt correctly. Sometimes you are asked – which of the following statements are correct and other times – which of the following statements are false. Even slight confusion can change the result! So, first and foremost understand what the question requires you to do and then start finding the answer. Read the options before reading the passage If you just start reading the passage straightaway you will end up wasting a lot of time. It is like finding your way in dark. On the other hand, if you first read the question prompt and then read the options, you will have a better understanding of what to read for in the passage. This will make your reading more focused. Practice skimming and scanning Do some daily practice. Give yourself couple of minutes to skim through a passage and ask yourself the overall theme of the passage. This will teach you how to skim. For scanning, go through the passages to look for a specific piece of information. Again, do this in timed circumstances for optimal practice. Be careful of negative marking If you are sure of only one option, then just select that one option. If you are sure of multiple options, select those options. If you are sure of one option, but have doubts about the other option, then only select the option you are sure of. If you are not sure of any option, make your best guess and select one option.

Don’t waste too much time Always be mindful of the overall section timer. Before going into the exam, you should know how much time you need to spend on this question type. Don’t spend too much more time than that.

PTE Reading Fill in the blanks Introduction This question type is one of the two fill in the blanks types in the PTE Reading section. Your score in this question type depends on how well you can understand the theme of a written text and then identify how certain words and phrases fit into the context. Only if you understand what a sentence means in the context of the whole text can you pick the right options for the blanks in that sentence. You will see a text which will have certain blanks in it. Below the text you will see a pool of words, which are the potential answers. You will have to drag the right options from the pool and drop them in the appropriate blanks. Remember, there are more words in the pool than there are blanks. So, some words in the pool will be left unused.

Concepts First, the basics: Number of questions

4~5

Scoring

Contributes to the Reading score.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

No time limit for individual questions. Only the overall Reading section time limit applies.

Fill in the blanks question in PTE Reading depend upon how well you can understand the grammar relations between different parts of the sentence and how familiar you are with common language usage. Improving the Reading skill can take a bit of time, but a daily reading practice combined with focused study of vocabulary and collocations can help make these questions easier.

Method Always start with the first blank. Look at the blank and notice where it appears in the sentence. Ask yourself, what kind of information is missing from that sentence? Does the sentence need a person, place, an action, an event, etc.? You can also go by the grammatical rules and ask yourself it the sentence needs a noun, verb, etc. Then look at the given options and shortlist the ones which might fit into that blank. Next, you should put each in the blank and see if the sentence makes sense. If you are not able to shortlist any blank, you have no option but to try out all options one by one. However, if you find any one blank too difficult, just move on the next one. Ones you have filled in other blanks, you will be left with fewer words in the pool. This will make it easier to identify the remaining blanks or even make a guess if you have to. Keep your eye on the overall timer. Don’t spend too much time on one blank. And also do not spend too much time on one question as a whole. Once you have filled in the blanks review the passage with the blanks filled in. It should make logical sense as a whole. If you feel there is a word left in the pool which can be a better fit for a blank, now is the time to replace it and see the effect.

Tips and Tricks Here are a few simple tips and tricks that you can follow to maximize your score in this question type. Fill the easy ones first There are always some blanks which are easier than the others. Instead of getting stuck at a difficult blank, move on the next and try to fill in all the ones which you find easy. This has two advantages. First of all, you are assured of some marks. Second, this will reduce the number of options remaining, making it easier to fill the other blanks. Try to pick missing grammar pieces Look at a blank and then see where it appears in the sentence. What does the sentence need in that place? Is it a noun? a verb? For this it is important you brush up your grammar basics. Go with simple logic

If you are not confident of your grammar, you can still fill in the blanks by following simple logic. Read the sentence with the blank and ask yourself what kind of word is needed to complete a sentence. For example, if the sentence describes an action, then ask yourself what is needed? Maybe what’s missing is the person who performed that action or the way that action was performed. Then look at the words in the pool and pick the ones which fit that criteria. Evaluate options one by one A simple approach is to just pick options from the pool, one by one, put them in a blank and see if it completes the sense. Does it make sense? Is the meaning logical? You will be able to fill in a lot of blanks using this approach. Read something everyday Make it a habit to read something every day. A newspaper of a general website is preferred because it can expose you to a variety of topics. If all you read is fiction or scientific articles, you will be exposed only to one kind of vocabulary. The more you read, more familiar you will become with different sentence structure and word usage patterns. Your mind will pick on these in the exam and you will find fill in the blanks much easier. Go through the word list A good vocabulary is essential for any English exam but is especially useful in this question type. Check out the academic word list if you haven’t already done so. In the Sure Way English PTE Course, you have a whole module on vocabulary. Make the most of it! Get to know collocations A collocation is a group of words which frequently appear together. They are often used in the fill in the blanks questions. You will have one word from the collocation missing. So, if you are familiar with this list, you will find such questions easier to handle. Grab it from here!

PTE Reading Writing Fill in the blanks Introduction This Fill in the blanks question type in the Reading section of PTE contributes to both your Reading and Writing skills. You will see a text on your screen which has a number of blanks in it. Each blank will have a drop down with it containing options. You have to select the correct option from the blank. PTE Reading Writing Fill in the blanks questions depend upon your understanding of how words fit into a context, your vocabulary as well your grammar skills. If you read English texts on a day to day basis you will find these questions quite simple. We recommend that you make it a daily habit to read a newspaper or some other English texts either on Internet or in a book.

Concepts Let’s first look at the basics: Number of questions

5~6

Scoring

Contributes to both the Reading and Writing scores.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

No time limit per question. Be aware of the overall section time limit.

There is no time limit for an individual question. There is only an overall time limit for the reading section. Therefore, you have to be careful about how much time you spend on each question.

Method

Always begin with the first blank. If are able to find the right option, great, otherwise move to the next blank and revisit the blanks you are not sure about later. For each blank look at the options and consider how they fit in the context of the sentence. Sometimes, all you have to do is pick the correct grammar form. In other cases, you also need to judge if the option you select makes logical sense in the sentence. It is a good idea to go through the options one by one and eliminate the wrong options. Good vocabulary, grammar fundamentals and knowing the common collocations will help you to fill in the blanks more accurately. Reading skills can take some time to improve. Therefore we recommend our students to develop a habit of daily reading. When reading any text, if you come across an unfamiliar word, make sure to note it down. Check its meaning and usage on a website like dictionary.com.

Tips and Tricks To maximize your score in the PTE Reading and Writing Fill in the blanks question type, follow these tips and tricks. Don’t waste time on one blank If you are not sure of an option, don’t spend too much time on it. Move to the next. You will get marks for as many blanks as you can get right. You can always come back to the other blanks later. You should also keep the overall time limit in mind. Don’t spend so much time on these questions that you are unable to attend other question types properly. Ask common sense questions You can often identify the right blank by asking some common-sense questions such as – Does this option make sense in this sentence? Does this option add to the meaning of the words before and after the blank? By putting in options one by one and asking these questions, you can zero in on the correct option. Check for grammar If you just brush up your basic grammar knowledge, you will find these questions much easier. Most of the times it is about simple things such as

identifying the correct form of verb, distinguishing between singular or plural, etc. Make your best guess There is no negative marking. So even if you are not hundred percent sure, you should make your best educated guess.

PTE Reorder Paragraphs Introduction A vital sign of good English language skills is the ability to understand how different parts of a text relate to each other. A large text is written to convey an essential meaning. The various sentences and paragraphs play an important role. They complement each other and together convey the meaning of the text. This is what is essentially tested in the Reorder Paragraph questions in the PTE Reading section. You will see paragraphs or sentences from a text arranged in a wrong order. You have to drag the paragraphs and drop them into correct positions. They key skill here is the ability to understand how sentences and paragraphs connect to each other. It could be a grammatical relation such as between a noun in one paragraph and a pronoun in another paragraph, or it could be a logical relation such as the cause in one paragraph and the effect in another paragraph.

Concepts Let’s look at the basics first: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to Reading score.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

No time limit on per question basis. Be mindful of the overall time limit for the Reading section.

It is important to understand how the scoring works for Reorder questions. You will get a point for each pair of paragraphs that is arranged in the right order. You won’t get score based on the individual position of each paragraph. Your focus should be on getting pairs in correct order.

Method When you start attempting this question your first goal should be to identify the leading paragraph. This is often easy to do as the leading paragraph has some unique characteristics. First of all, the leading paragraph introduces a concept or theme of the whole text. It is independent and selfcontained. It does not require other paragraphs or sentences to complete its meaning. Once you have found the leading paragraph, you should look for the next paragraph. There are two things to consider. First, the second paragraph should add on to what the first paragraph introduced. Second, the paragraph should have a link with something in the previous paragraph. For example, if the first paragraph talks about the general concept of Global Warming, the second paragraph can discuss a specific incident related to it. You should then repeat the same process for subsequent paragraphs. Ask yourself these questions? Which information is missing in this paragraph? Which paragraph contains that information? These questions will guide you to correct paragraphs. Once you have arranged all paragraphs in the right order, make sure you read them again. Sometimes in a subsequent reading you will feel that a paragraph can be moved in another place. Do it and see how it impacts the meaning of the whole text. At times you will be confused between different paragraphs. In that case you should put each paragraph in the position one by one and see how it effects the order of other paragraphs and the meaning of the text.

Tips and Tricks Here are some tips and tricks to use in Reorder paragraph questions: Look for the independent sentence

Once you identify the paragraph for the first position, rest will become easier. So, you will immediately look for it. Ask yourself this question – “Which sentence does not depend on any other sentence to complete its meaning?” That will be your leading sentence. Look for noun-pronoun relationships Grammar clues can help you identify relationships between paragraphs. For example, if the second paragraph has “He” in it, then you ask yourself – “Who does this ‘He’ refer to?”. Look for the sentence which tells us about this person, the sentence which has this noun in it. Look for connecting words Words such as however, therefore, because, indicate that the sentence preceding these words is linked to the sentence before in some way. Sentences beginning with one of these words are rarely the opening sentences. When you come across such a word, look for a sentence which completes the relationship indicated by the connecting word. For example, “However” indicates an exception, “Because” indicates reason, etc. Look for logical relationships Successive paragraphs in a text are supposed to add to the meaning of the paragraphs before them. If paragraph A talks about a general concept, paragraph B might give more details of it in a particular year and paragraph C might provide an example of the concept. Look for such relationships and use that to put the paragraphs in the right order. An example would obviously not come before the definition! Try different options A simple approach, though somewhat more time consuming is to just try different options and see if they make sense. For example, after the first paragraph, just put in the remaining paragraphs in 2nd place one by one and see which one makes more sense. Start noticing paragraph connections Any reading that you do, start noticing how paragraphs are linked to each other. This skill is at the core of reorder paragraph question type. Start understanding how paragraphs transition from one to another. Make this a part of your everyday reading on any website that you prefer. Brain Pickings is one resource that we love! The articles are always interesting.

PTE Summarize Spoken Text Introduction In the Writing section of PTE you read a long text and then write a one sentence summary of it. In the Listening section, you have something similar. But instead of reading, you will listen to an audio and then have to summarize it. Unlike the writing section, here you can write more than 1 sentence. The most important skill here is how well can you understand an audio and identify the main points in it. If you can do that, it is half the battle won. The second important part is to take those main points and frame them into a good summary.

Concepts Let’s look at the basics: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to both Listening and Writing scores.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

10 minutes for each question. The unused time does not carry forward to other questions and sections.

You will have 10 minutes to write the summary once the audio ends. The summary should be between 50 and 70 words. It is critical that you use this time wisely. Starting to write a summary in a hurry can leave you with a half-baked response.

Method First of all as soon as the audio begins you should listen attentively for the key points. Your focus should not be to merely catch some words, but to understand the theme of the audio. Take some notes as you listen. This will help you to remember the main points. Don’t write down whole sentences, only the key points. Any word that seems to be important in the context of the audio, that is what you should note down. In your mind, form connections between the words as you listen. Try to draw up a picture or a scene corresponding to what you hear. This is the best way to listen to and understand a spoken text. Once the audio ends, you have 10 minutes to frame your response. Don’t start writing immediately. First, spend a couple of minutes reviewing your notes and adding to them based on your understanding of the audio. This exercise will give you some solid key points to start with. Next, look at all the points that you have and separate the essential from the not so important. Unnecessary examples, additional details, etc. are not needed in a summary. Finally, you will be left with only the most important points. Start putting them together in a summary. Unlike Summarize text, you can write more than one sentence here, but you should still stick to the word limit of 50 to 70 words. If you end up writing 2 or 3 sentences, make sure to check that the sentences are linked to each other properly. In the end review for grammar, review for any spelling and punctuation marks and then submit your response confidently!

Tips and Tricks It is a good idea to get into a daily habit of listening to English language audios – TV news, podcasts or YouTube videos even. At the end of the audio, ask yourself – “What is the audio about? Can I explain it in a sentence or two?”. This the best way to build up your core skills for these and other question types.

Here are some more Tips and Tricks that you can use to maximize your score in this question type: Take smart notes Learn how to take notes smartly. Note taking should not be at the expense of understanding the audio. Your primary focus is always on understanding. The more you practice, more easily you will be able to distinguish important points from other information. And important points are what should go into your notes. Make your own note taking shortcuts This is often useful but varies from person to person. You can develop your own note taking shortcuts and strategies. For example – Will I write full words or only the first letter or only the first couple of letters of each words? Will I use arrows to show relationships between words? Will I use an underline to show that a word is important? Don’t start writing immediately A sure shot way of confusing yourself and wasting precious time is to start writing the summary immediately after the audio ends. Instead have a proper time management strategy. During your practice develop an understanding of how many minutes you need to spend on preparation, how many minutes on writing and how many minutes on review. When you write like this, you will write better, you will not have to re-do the work. Write a structured response Always write a properly structured response. That means you shouldn’t just jump from one point to another. Always begin with an overview sentence and make sure the following sentences link to each other properly. Write simple sentences Unless you are very confident of your grammar, do not try to write complicated sentences. Simple sentences are good enough to get you a high score provided you write them without any grammar errors. Don’t include the unnecessary information You should be very clear about what the most important points are and only include those in your summary. Including unnecessary information will

eat up your word quota and also complicate the sentence structures. So ignore examples, additional details, repetition of the same point – these shouldn’t go into your summary. Be mindful of the word count If you are in a hurry, you can go over or under the word limit. That is a silly way of losing marks. Make sure your response is between 50 and 70 words. Always leave some time in the end for a review to fix such things. Check the content Once you have written the summary, ask yourself this simple question: Will someone who has not heard the audio, be able to understand what it was about, by reading my summary? If your answer is Yes, the person will be able to understand the main idea of the audio by just reading your summary, it means you have covered all the key points. Otherwise it means you have missed out on some key information that you must include. Practice listening and summarizing A good fun way to practice the core skills behind this question type is to listen to an audio on YouTube or a podcast and then try to summarize what has been said. You don’t need to worry about the word limit or getting it hundred percent right. Listen to it once, then write a summary and check it against the audio. If you have missed something important, rewrite it. A new channel like Bloomberg is a good source.

PTE Listening Multiple choice Multiple Answers Introduction The Multiple choice, choose Multiple Answers question type in the listening section of PTE, is just like the common multiple choice questions you must have seen in reading comprehension tests. However, in this case instead of reading the text, you will listen to a text and then answer a multiple choice question based on that. You will be given 5 to 7 options to choose from, and more than one will be correct. You must select all correct options. The scoring here depends on your ability to comprehend what you have listened to. If you study or work in an English speaking environment, this will be fairly easy for you, otherwise you will need a bit more practice. You should be able to listen to an audio and understand the central theme in it, identify the tone and the implicit and explicit meaning in the audio. For daily listening practice, you can find many free educational podcasts such as these by University of Oxford.

Concepts Let’s have a look at the basics first: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to Listening as well as Reading scores

Negative marking

Yes

Time to answer

7 second before the audio starts playing. No time limit per question. Overall Listening section time limit applies.

Method In the 7 seconds before the audio begins, try to quickly read the question and if possible have a glance at the options. Yes, you wouldn’t be able to read the question and options in entirety but try to read and understand as much as you can. If possible, at least pick some words from each option. Your goal in these 7 seconds to become familiar with what the audio is going to be about, based on the question and the options. Having this information tells your mind what to listen for. When the audio starts, focus on understanding what the theme and the key ideas are. Always keep the question and the options in focus. Everything you listen to and interpret should be in relation with what the question and options are. Try to take some notes, so that you remember the main points. You can then use these main points in the end to make the final decision on the correct options. As the audio plays, keep an eye on the options in front of you. You can get some indication of which options are right or wrong at the time of listening. Shortlist your options based on that. In the end, combine what you remember from the audio with the notes and your shortlist to determine the correct options. Don’t forget that the Multiple choice, Multiple answers question in PTE Listening has negative marking. So, don’t make random guesses. Your total score in a question can however not go below zero. Therefore follow these recommendations: 1. Select all options you are sure of 2. If you are sure of only 1 option, just select that. Don’t risk it by selecting another wrong option. 3. If you are not sure of any options, make your best guess and select one. The score can anyway never be less than zero.

Tips and Tricks Here are some tips and tricks to maximize your score in the PTE Listening Multiple choice, multiple answers question type.

Make use of the 7 seconds Quickly read the questions and options. Give your mind something to focus on. Understand the question and pick some words from each option. Shortlist while listening Don’t just sit there and listen to the audio. Keep your eyes on the options in front of you. When you hear a word that corresponds to an option, check if it validates that option or not. Use this time to prepare a shortlist. Note down the key points Whenever you hear a key point, an important piece of information, note it down. It will help you in the end to identify the correct options. Finalize options only in the end Even if you think you have found the correct answers while listening, don’t be in a hurry. Wait for the audio to complete and then revisit the question and the options before deciding on your final choice. Consider all options Always consider all the options given to you. Don’t skip any. You must have a reason for selecting or eliminating any option.

PTE Listening Multiple choice Single Answer Introduction The Multiple choice, single answer questions in PTE Listening section test your listening comprehension. Quite similar to their counterparts in the Reading section, you have to answer a question based on a spoken text. A number of choices are given, and you have to select one from the given options.

Concepts First, let’s look at the basics: Number of questions

2~3 questions

Scoring

Contributes to Listening score.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

Audio starts after 5 seconds. No time limit per question. Be mindful of the overall reading section time limit.

As long as you can understand the spoken text and identify the theme and main points in it, you should be able to select the correct option. For those who don’t study or work in an English-speaking environment, it is recommended to start listening to English audios regularly. When you do listen, ask yourself specifically what you have understood. If you can describe it in a couple of sentences, it means you have understood the points well. Our favorite source of English audio is Ted Talks.

Method You will have 5 seconds before the audio starts playing. These 5 seconds are important. Use them to have a quick look at the question and the given options. It’s not possible to read the question and options completely. So, what shall you do?

Read the question and then pick a few words from each option. Together this will help you to understand what the audio is going to be about. If you know a few words from each option, you will know what specifically you are listening for. When the audio starts, try to understand the theme and how the audio related to the question and the options. You are not listening just for the sake of it. You are listening to identify or validate some specific information. Take notes whenever you hear some important piece of information – event, person, place, an explanation, a specific detail, etc. These are the important bits in an audio. As you listen, keep your eyes on the options. Your goal is to shortlist some of these options. Validate them as you get more information from the audio. When you hear a word that relates to an option, try to judge if it makes that option right or wrong. Remember! This is just a short list. This is not the final selection. Once the audio ends, look at the question and options again. Then review your notes, what you remember and the shortlisted options. Make sure final decision based on all these points.

Tips and Tricks Use 5 seconds wisely Might seem like very small time, but it can be very useful in understand the question and the options. If you already have an idea of what the audio will be about, you will understand more from it. Take some notes Note down the key points. It is difficult to remember everything by the time the audio ends. If you just note down the important pieces of information, your chances of selecting the right option will increase. Shortlist while listening Don’t be idle when listening. Actively evaluate the options against what you are hearing. Even if you can eliminate one wrong option or identify one correct option while listening, it will be a big advantage. Finalize options in the end

When the audio ends, spend some time reading the question and options again. Then make your final decision. Look at your notes, consider what you remember from the audio and the shortlist that you have made. Eliminate the wrong options and then make sure you have a valid reason for selecting the correct option.

PTE Listening Fill in the blanks Introduction The PTE Fill in the Blanks question type in the Listening section requires you to listen to an audio and fill in the blanks in its corresponding transcript. You will see a transcript on the screen. The transcript will have some blanks. Then you will hear an audio. Your task is to pick the words from the audio for the corresponding blank in the transcript.

Concepts Let’s look at the basics first: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to your Listening and Writing scores.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

Audio starts playing after 7 seconds. No time limit per question. Overall Listening section time limit applies.

The score in this question type depends simply on how many blanks you get correct. The key skills required are: •

Ability to listen to an English audio and follow along its transcript

•

Ability to read and understand words in a transcript

We strongly recommend that you add some listening exercises to your daily routine. NPR has some great podcasts for you.

Method here will be a few seconds before the audio starts. Use that time to have a quick glance over the transcript. Especially notice where the blanks are and the words around the blanks. Doing this simple step will put your mind in a better frame to listen and understand the audio. The main decision that you have to make here is: To type directly in the computer screen or, to first note down the blanks on your rough scratch pad and then transfer them to the screen or even the third option, which is to just remember the blanks. We strongly recommend that you avoid the third option! It is very difficult to remember all the words for a person of an average memory. If you are comfortable typing on the computer and feel you have a good enough speed, then type directly. Otherwise, you can note down the blanks in the rough paper and then type them in the end. Work on your strategy during your practice. You can try doing 5 questions using each method and then see which method gives you better results. Follow that method in the exam.

Tips and Tricks This is a simple question type, as long as you can follow the audio and read a text at the same time. These tips and tricks will help you to maximize your score: Read the transcript before audio starts Even if you are not able to read the whole transcript, you will benefit from whatever you are able to read. Knowing the words around the blanks will alert your mind about what to listen for. Your focus will be on listening for the words you need for the blanks. Keep your cursor in the first blank Be ready to type as soon as the audio listens. You can always be ready for at least the first blank. But do not get stuck at the first blank or any other blank for that matter.

Follow the speaker Do not stop to think about one particular blank or word. Keep moving with the speaker. Your eye and hand should follow the speaker. If you are typing directly into the screen, after each blank quickly place the cursor in the next blank and listen for the words before it. Be ready to write in the rough notepad If your strategy is to first write down in the rough notepad and then transfer to the screen in the end, you should be ready to write in the rough notepad as soon as the audio starts. Typing with hand is usually slower. So, do not attempt to write the whole word, just write enough letters that later on you can recognize what the word is. Always review in the end Do not submit your answer without reviewing what you have filled in. In any case, the passage with the correct blanks in, will make good sense. If for some reason the words that you have filled in do not make sense, you can consider replacing them. But do that only if you know a more suitable word than what you have already filled in. Also, check for grammar and spelling mistakes. These mistakes can be easily avoided by a quick review in the end. Have your time management strategy ready As the PTE Listening section has only an overall timer, it is up to you to decide how much time to spend on the PTE Listening Fill in the blanks questions. It will anyway be the time what the audio runs for, plus whatever time you want to spend on the review. Get an understanding of how much time on an average you need for this, during your practice sessions.

PTE Highlight correct summary Introduction A very interesting question type in the PTE Listening section is the Highlight Correct Summary. In this question, you will hear an audio and select the correct summary from a number of options given to you. The key skills tested in this are your Listening ability as well your reading ability. By listening properly, you should be able to identify what is the key information and the theme of the audio. Then you should be able to match it with the options provided.

Concepts Let’s look at the basic information for this question type: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to your listening and reading scores.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

No time limit for individual questions. Be mindful of the overall Listening section time limit.

You should focus on understanding the theme of the audio. Some people just try to catch some words and then have a difficult time remembering how the words relate to each other. However, if you understand the theme, you will not face this problem. Give yourself a daily dose of listening practice, YouTube or websites like TED have good audios that you can listen to. After listening to the audio, try to summarize it in a couple of sentences. This is the best daily practice that you can give yourself.

Method Use the time before the audio starts to have a quick glance at the options given. You will not be able to read the full summaries, but you can definitely catch a few words from each option. This has two benefits – it will give you a better idea of what you are about to listen to, and it will also help you shortlist options while listening. When the audio starts, try to understand the main idea – the theme of the audio. Take some notes and at the same time visualize what you are listening to. This will help you remember the main points of the audio. When you are listening, keep an eye on the options in front of you. Often, you can eliminate or shortlist couple of options at the same time as you listen to the audio. Once the audio ends, read the summary options in detail and look for the ones which carry the key points that you remember and that are in your notes. The option that includes all or most of the key points mentioned in the audio is the one that is correct. For example, if Option 1 has 2 key points, but Option 2 has 3 key points then Option 2 is the correct one, provided all the key points in the options are the ones that were actually in the audio. So, if there is Option 3 which has 3 points but 1 one of them was not mentioned in the audio, it is not your correct summary.

Tips and Tricks It is helpful to think of this as a multiple-choice question. After all you have a number of choices from which you have to select one correct choice. Follow these suggestions to get a high score in the PTE Highlight correct summary questions. Read the options before hand A lot of you will say that there is not enough time to read the options before the audio begins. That is correct! You cannot read all the options completely. But you can skim through the options. You can catch some words from each option. This will at the least give you an idea of what to expect in the audio. Once your mind has got a hint, it will catch the words faster and you will find it easier to understand the theme of the audio. Listen with the intent of understanding

Do not listen to just catch some words. When you listen to the audio, you should try to understand the theme and the main ideas in the audio. This will make it easier for you to remember what you have just heard. Take notes It is helpful to take some notes when listening to a long audio. Do not try to write down everything. That will only make you lose focus. Instead, write down the words that contain the most information. For e.g. any names, years, events, etc. Keep the options in mind when listening When you are listening to the audio, keep an eye on the options in front of you. Often you can eliminate an option or two at the same time as you are listening to the audio. In the end, you will only have to confirm your decision. For e.g. if an option says, “Only 10% of the people pay taxes on time…”, but you hear in the audio “Majority of the people pay their taxes on time…”, then you can eliminate the option right away. Use your visual memory Don’t depend only on your ability to remember the words or on the notes that you have taken. Add your visual memory to the mix and it will make things a lot easier for you. Try to draw a mental picture of what you are hearing. If the audio is about a state government and taxes, then imagine seeing government officials, money and an online website for taxes. Our mind remembers visual information much more than just the words. Confirm each option in the end In the end, when you finalize an option, make sure you have looked at each and every option. Don’t be too confident and go with the first option you feel is right. You should have a definite reason for why you are ruling out other options. This way you will not lose marks due to silly mistakes.

PTE Highlight Incorrect Words Introduction One of the easier question types in PTE Listening, Highlight Incorrect Words, requires you to pick the wrong words from a transcript. You will see a transcript on the screen and listen to its corresponding audio at the same time. Some words in the transcript are different from the words in the audio. Your task is to identify these words and highlight them by clicking on them.

Concepts Let’s look at the basic first: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to your listening and reading scores.

Negative marking

Yes

Time to answer

You will have 10 seconds before the audio starts. There is no time limit per question, but you have to be mindful of the overall listening section time limit.

In theory, as long as you can understand the audio and follow along with the text, you should be able to pick the words correctly. The key skill here is your ability to read while listening at the same time. If you get stuck on a word or a sentence, you run the risk of missing out on rest of the audio. So, this question type requires plenty of practice. TED Talks have a useful interactive transcript feature which can help you practice listening while following a transcript.

Method After a short countdown, the audio will start playing. Once the audio ends you can take your time to finalize the answer and submit your response. Please note that in Listening section, there is only an overall timer. There is no time limit on a per question basis. Therefore, you need to develop your own time management strategy. You don’t want to be in a situation where you spend so much time on Highlight Incorrect Words that in the end you don’t have any time left for the Write from Dictation questions. Another key point to note here is the negative marking. Don’t think that you can just randomly click and get at least some words right. You can lose marks this way. Therefore, always be careful when clicking on a word. You can also click on a highlighted word and remove it from the answers!

Tips and Tricks As long as you can follow along with the audio and continue reading the transcript, your chances of getting this question right, are quite high. This is one of the simpler question types in PTE Listening. Follow these suggestions to maximize your score: Keep your cursor ready Make sure your cursor is at the beginning of the transcript and your hand is on the mouse, ready to move the cursor. As soon as the audio begins, your hand should move to take the cursor to each subsequent word in the transcript. When you find you have heard a word that is different from what is written in the transcript, click on it. Don’t think too much, don’t stop to verify your answer. If you do, you will miss out on the audio. Keep moving Your first goal should be to follow the audio. If you are unable to understand a word or suddenly find that the audio has moved ahead while you are still looking at an earlier world, quickly jump to where the audio is. If you lag behind, you will miss out on everything. This is a sure shot way of losing marks. Don’t click randomly

If you are not sure of the answer choice, don’t click on the word. The Highlight Incorrect Words question type has negative marking. Don’t go on a random clicking spree. Practice, practice, practice Reading while listening is a different skill than just reading or just listening. Most people forget this point. You should make sure that you practice reading while listening at the same time.

PTE Select Missing Word Introduction PTE Select Missing Word question type is one of the more interesting question types in the Listening section of PTE. You will hear an audio, the last word or few words of which have been beeped out. Your task is to select the missing word or words from the given options. To score well in this question type you not only have to understand what is being said, but also understand the overall context and then decide which of the given options fit in that context. Your understanding of English language vocabulary, sentence usage, grammar, can also be tested in this question type.

Concepts Here are the basics to begin with: Number of questions

2~3

Scoring

Contributes to Listening score

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

The audio will play after 7 seconds. There is no time limit on a per question basis. You need to aware of the overall time limit of the Listening section.

You can think of this question type as made up of two parts. The first part is understanding what is being said, especially the last sentence and words before the beep. The second part is then picking out the word which can be put in place of the beep.

Method Pay attention to the audio, especially the last part of it. Be ready to listen as soon as the audio starts and try to understand its theme. More you can

understand, easier it will be to decide which word out of the given options fits into that context. Keep an eye on the progress bar. You should be extra attentive as it approaches the end. Make sure not to miss the last few words. Once you have this information, then the next step is to decide which of the given options will go with it. Start picking the options one by one and add to the last few words that you captured. Does it make sense? Does it complete the incomplete sentence? These are the questions you should ask yourself. If a given option answers positive to all these questions, that is your correct option.

Tips and Tricks Here are a few tips and tricks to help you maximize your score in this question type. Don’t miss the last few words While you should understand and try to remember the whole audio, the last few words are especially important. These are the words which you will join with the option and try to figure out if they make sense. Looking at the progress bar is very important to figure out when the sentence is nearing the end. Read the instructions carefully This is one question type in which the instructions are important. The instructions actually tell you what the audio is going to be about. Once you know that you will find it easier to understand the audio. Check all options Don’t submit your response before considering all the given options. Put each option one by one after the last few words of the audio and see if it makes sense. It should have a correct meaning as well as be correct grammatically. Give your ears listening practice If you don’t work or study in an English speaking environment, you must give your ears sufficient listening practice before the exam. A couple of

months before the exam make it a point to listen to some English audio a few times a day. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend, as long as you do it regularly. At Sure Way English, we prefer TED Talks and recommend the same to you.

PTE Write from Dictation Introduction Write from dictation is a simple question type in the Listening section of PTE Academic. You will hear a short sentence and you have to write what you have heard. As long as you are able to understand the sentence properly and write it down correctly without spelling mistakes you should be able to score well in this question type.

PTE Write from dictation Concepts Let’s first look at the basics: Number of questions

3~4 questions

Scoring

Contributes to both Writing and Listening scores.

Negative marking

No

Time to answer

7 seconds before audio starts. No time limit for a single question.

This question type tests a very fundamental skill which you need in your day to day student or professional life. That is to listen to a short sentence and be able to write it down. You must have done this is a number of times while attending a lecture or a meeting. If you are comfortable with this basic skill, you can score well in this question type.

Method You will have 7 seconds before the audio starts playing. Use this time to focus yourself on the question. Once the audio starts playing you can either

try to type it directly in the answer space, or first understand and then type after the audio has stopped playing. It can be challenging to type the whole sentence correctly while listening to the audio. Some of these sentences can also be a bit longer. Typing directly will become especially difficult in that case. One alternative is to just listen and try to understand and remember the sentence and then reproduce it in the end. The other alternative is to write it down in your rough scratchpad and use that to write the final answer in the end. The approach we recommend is usually a combination of all these methods. If you are typing in directly, instead of typing the whole words, you can just note down the first few letters or just the first letter of each word. If you are writing in your rough scratchpad you can do the same there. Along with this, try to understand what the sentence is about. This makes it easier in the end to look at what you have written and expand it into complete words. Whether you type directly or first write on the paper depends upon how confident you are of your typing speed. We recommend that you do some practice using both approaches and see which gives you better result. Follow that method in the exam.

Tips and Tricks With some practice you can score well in these questions. Follow these tips and tricks: Be ready to type or write If the approach you are using is to type or write, be ready to do that before the audio begins. That means either place the cursor in the response box or be ready to write in the rough scratchpad. As soon as the audio starts you should be ready to type or write. Don’t fall behind the audio

If the speaker has gone ahead to the next word, you should stop typing or writing immediately and go to the next word. If you get stuck on just one word you can completely miss the remaining sentence. Capture the meaning Focus on understanding the meaning of the sentence. This will make it easier to remember the words and write them later. Review in the end In the end read what you have written and make sure it makes sense. There is never going to be an illogical sentence in the exam. Also check for grammar and spellings. Connect logically If for some reason you are just not able to understand the sentence or take notes, then you have to give your best shot based on whatever you remember. For example, if you only remember 2 or 3 words from the sentence, then instead of just typing those 2 or 3 words, combine them into a logical sentence and then type them into the response box. Practice core skills Do not underestimate the importance of a little daily practice. Listen to some English audio, such as daily news or podcasts and try to write down after what you are listening. NPR is a good source of audios to listen to.