PTE Speaking Tips

During my first test, I was very concerned about content especially in sections for "Retell Lecture" and "Describe Image". But after my research on how they score and some of the tips from those folks who have taken the tests, fluency is the most important factor. During my first test, I used a lot of "Arr, Arr, Hmm, Hmm" because I needed time to think to give more information about the content.

But in my second attempt, I gave more attention to fluency so I actually scored 90 in fluency and overall speaking score was 88.

For "Retell Lecture", personally, it is not possible to listen and remember them all to retell. So what I did was, I jotted down what I can remember especially key points with numbers,  percentages, years, ages etc. Do not write the names but use the title or occupations instead. For example, if it's said "Dr Michale Alexendra", you just say a doctor said bla bla bla. And instead of trying to write down everything, just try to catch some full sentences. Maybe after the lecture, you might be able to get 4 to 5 sentences and that is pretty much enough for you to say in the time given. You can elaborate it by saying " the lecture privide brief information about XXX. According to the speaker, he said XXX" etc.

As for describe image, same thing applies. Pay attention to fluency more than content. Include an introduction by saying this bar chart/ pie chart/ graph/ image provides information about XXX or illustrates XXX. Then say the highest and lowest figures or key points. You can get more useful vocabulary and ideas about this seciton in below website;

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/words/charts.htm

As for Repeat the sentence section, you also cannot write all of them down. No time. So instead of spelling all words, you can write just one letter each for each word.

For example;

"The clinic is located on the second floor of that building infront of the shopping mall"

So instead of writing all down, you can write " T C I L O T S F O T B I O T S M"

Sorry for this poor example, actual sentences may not be that difficult. And for this seciton, the more words you can say, the more marks you get.

So anyway, Good Luck :)

If you have questions, leave a comment. Thanks

Cheers