Why is it difficult to score in speaking and writing section?
The PTE speaking and writing sections can be difficult to tackle if you are a non-native English speaker. You will need to clear your basics before diving into practicing different tasks that are asked on the PTE exam. There are several reasons why both of these sections can have a higher difficulty level compared to other English exams. PTE follows a different exam format and the time allocation is much different compared to other English examinations. You will have to practice both of these sections thoroughly during your PTE Study.
Why is it hard to score in the speaking section?
There are many aspirants that find the PTE speaking section difficult to tackle because you need to listen to audio and make notes at the same time. The audio is only played once so if you lose focus and miss something then you will start to panic. The hard part is that in the time of 7 seconds you need to put all the notes together and speak your response using correct grammar and vocabulary. You have to pay attention to your oral fluency, intonation, pauses and gaps, pace and pronunciation. This is a lot of work. Hence, you will need to practice all of these skills thoroughly during your PTE study.
While speaking you should be clear and not use a casual form of language. We are so used to talking in casual English language with friends and family that while speaking the response, we end up using casual tone words. So we need to make a conscious effort during PTE study to speak in a formal tone.
Tips to get a good score in the speaking section
- Oral fluency is the key. So, you should speak in your natural tone. Your tone should not feel forced. You should speak your response fluently and confidently.
- Do not take unnecessary and long pauses. If you pause for more than 3 seconds then the microphone will get locked. Anything you speak after that will not get recorded. You should pause when you see punctuation. Take a small pause when you see a comma and a little longer pause when you see a full stop.
- You should speak your response at a normal pace. Make sure you do not go too fast or too slow as that indicated anxiety and lack of confidence.
- Do not try to correct what you have already spoken. SO what is spoken is gone. Move forward and focus on completing your response.
- You should avoid the use of fillers like umm, ahh, etc or you will end up losing points for it.
- You should use proper intonation while speaking your response. If you speak in the same tone then you will sound monotonous. SO, variation in the tone is required so that the listener can understand your response in a better way. When you begin a sentence, there should be a rise in the tone and when you end it, there should be a drop in the tone.
- Your pronunciation should be correct. In case, you are not sure about the pronunciation of a specific word then do not include it in your response.
- Your response should be within the word limit or you will lose points.
- Manage your time efficiently so you are able to complete the response before the timer hits completed.
Why is it hard to score in the writing section?
In the PTE writing section, you will be asked 2 tasks: Summarize written text and Essay writing. You need to write a 200 – 300 words essay in 20 minutes. The time frame is stricter compared to other English exams. It will get hard to write this word count in the given limit if your typing speed is slow. So, practice typing during your PTE study.
For the other task, you need to summarize the text in 5 to 70 words. You need to do this by writing a single sentence. This means you will require to use connectors to write a long sentence. When you have to write long sentences, you tend to make grammar errors. So you might struggle at this if you do not practice well. In your PTE study, you should practice writing a summary in one sentence. You will require to know a subject + verb + object sentence.
Tips to get a good score in the writing section
- Content is key. You should write content that is relevant to the given topic. Support your details with examples and cover all the important points.
- You should use proper grammar, punctuations and the right words. Avoid making spelling mistakes and type errors. You should proofread your response. This will allow you to avoid such errors.
- The sentence should start with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
- You should not write in capital letters so make sure your caps lock is turned off.
- Write impactful opening and closing statements.
- You should write strong conclusions.
- Write within the word limit or you will lose points.
- Write in a structured format and a proper flow should be maintained. Paragraphs should be connected with each other and there should be a smooth transition between them. Your essay should have 3-4 paragraphs where the starting paragraph is introduction and the ending paragraph is the conclusion. The middle paragraphs will be the body paragraphs. Follow this format.
- Manage your time properly so you can complete writing your response in the given time limit.
Follow all the above tips during PTE study to improve your score.