Month: August 2018

Chapter 1: PTE in general Chapter 2: What questions you will have Chapter 3: Strategies Chapter 4: PTE Practice (official sample test) Chapter 5: Taking the real test Chapter 6: Strategies based on a goal score Chapter 7: Read before taking the test

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Are you confident? Ask yourself one more time before booking an exam. Do you see yourself that you have nailed the test? If not, you won’t make it in the real test. Unless you have practised enough and are in confident dealing with the test, things that you cannot do in practice cannot be achieved in the test either. Do not lie to yourself that you have practised enough even though you have not. Don’t be nervous! You might encounter unexpected situations; such as when your computer freezes or if text that you are typing disappears. Whatever you encounter and…

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Order of importance Speaking, Listening >>> Writing, Reading You will need to cover all question types across all sections. Don’t rush, just do one by one. Final goal here With this score, you won’t be required to submit any other documents to prove your English proficiency. This is just very hard to achieve but it is not impossible. How is it different from all 65 points? A few steps up from all 65 points, to me. You should do your best to avoid any simple mistakes, since that will take some points which would be critical for your score. Just…

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Order of importance Speaking > Writing, Listening, Reading Retell Lecture and Summarize Spoken Text are the keys IELTS 7.0 points or PTE 65 points are considered as “Competent” by Australian immigration office which can be used for its migration process. Required time: 9 months or 750 hours The time is based on a 2 hour preparation on weekdays and 4 hours on weekends, making up to around 80 hours a month. That way, 9 months of preparation will be worth around 750 hours. 65 points in all sections It is a one step up from all 50 or 58 points.…

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Order of importance Speaking > Writing >>> Listening, Reading Try to get high score in Speaking and Writing sections. Can be used when applying for New Zealand immigration As of July 2018, the New Zealand Immigration office requires PTE 58 points or IELTS 6.5 points as proper English competency when an applicant is applying for Permanent Residency. For more information you should ask a visa agent. If you think IELTS is hard to deal with, PTE Academic could be an option for you. Required time: 6 months or 500 hours The time is based on a 2 hour preparation on…

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Order of importance Speaking >>>>> Writing > Listening, Reading IELTS 6.0 points or PTE 50 points are considered as “Competent” by the Australian Immigration office which can be used for its immigration process I know how hard IELTS is! If you are struggling with the test, switching to PTE Academic could be an option. Required time: 3 months or 250 hours The time is based on a 2-hour preparation on weekdays and 4 hours on weekends, making up to around 80 hours a month. That way, 3 months of preparation will be worth around 250 hours. Focus on Speaking and…

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Study schedule First month Complete a grammar book Any grammar book is fine. Personally, I recommend “English Grammar in Use” which is commonly used in many language schools. Also, if you are worried about your vocabulary, looking though one vocabulary book will not be a bad idea. Read Aloud practice Practice as much as you can. This will make you comfortable speaking in front of the computer. Do one sample test At the end of the first month, try one sample test. Target score is 35+ points overall. Second month Pearson Official Guide Once you have completed grammar and vocabulary…

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Getting started: First month, focus on grammar and reading aloud practice 6.2.1 Grammar You will need to have a solid base in English grammar which is essential for Writing, Reading and Listening sections in PTE Academic. Especially Essays in Writing require constructive writing style, you cannot skip this part. If you’re struggling with your Writing score, you should make room for grammar improvement. There are a lot of grammar books out there, but I personally recommend the two books below which are commonly used for English language schools. English Grammar in Use Book with Answers and Interactive eBook: Self-Study Reference…

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PTE scoring system You need to understand how the scoring system in PTE Academic works. Basically there are two things: 1. Answers are assessed by computers only 2. One answer could affect one or two section scores In PTE Academic, you will need to be able to score well on every section. There are two task types. The first type is the Independent Task which only affects a score in one section and the second is the Integrated Task which affects a score in two section types. Every time you have completed the test, you should make sure where you…

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Target scores are divided by points that can be used when applying for Australian / New Zealand immigration. The below list also indicates the general required amount of preparation time. That said, PTE is a unique test because of many factors, you do not need to just fully trust the list. Of course, if you live in any English speaking countries for a long period of time or you must speak English on a daily basis, the required time will vary. Based on my experience in teaching PTE Academic to over 50 students, this is how I classify the difficulties.…

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A PTE Academic test can be booked through the below website. Depending on the country/city in where you sit an exam, the exam fee varies. In Australia, it costs 330 dollars as of July 2018. PTE Academic – The English test that takes you places Home You should arrive at least 30 minutes prior to your test time. At test centre 1. When you arrive at the test centre, you will submit your passport and take a photo of your face. 2. Leave your belongings at the dedicated area. 3. Your name will be called and staff will take you…

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PTE Practice is an official PTE sample test Pearson provides a sample test called “PTE Practice”. This is a paid test that you can have which is basically the same testing on your computer. As of July 2018 there are three packages based on the number of contained exams. PTE Practice It is very important to get used to the testing system by doing the sample test. Don’t worry if your sample test score is a bit low – it tends to generate a lower score than you usually get in the real test. For example, if you can score…

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Reading General 1. You might be overwhelmed by the number of questions. The best thing you could do is to focus on the questions you are comfortable with. 2. There is negative scoring for Multiple choice Choose Multiple Answers. 3. Do not pick answers which are illogical or grammatically wrong. 4. Read possible answers first for Multiple choice / Choose Single Answers / Multiple choice Choose Multiple Answers 5. There is no time limit for each question but there is for the whole section depending on the test. 6. Practice through Pearson’s official guide.

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General Write first, proofread later Once you finish your writing, make you sure you have no spelling and grammar mistakes. You should spend time on proofreading for at least one minute per 10 minutes. Practice without typo-checker Nowadays everyone uses a typo checker when writing on the computer. This is a must-tool in our daily life, but this also prevents us from learning correct spelling, and it could impact our spelling when doing PTE Academic Writing section. You should not use this function when practising. It is pretty common that you will learn incorrect spelling. To me these are the…

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PTE tips by sections – Speaking I would say, that the most important section among the four should be Speaking. Because without scoring good enough in this part, in most cases you will not be able to achieve your desired score. Here are some tips that you should not overlook. General 1. Recording plays only once. 2. The microphone will close if it does not recognise any sound after more than 3 seconds and once it detects that it will stop recording. 3. Keep answering even if you think you have made a mistake when answering. And DO NOT resume…

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PTE Academic is scored between 10 and 90. To get a high score you must make less mistakes and answer questions that you are more comfortable with. Below are the typical mistakes by sections. Speaking – Pronounce incorrectly, be stuck on an answer Writing – Spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes Reading – Cannot reach the last question due to extensive questions Listening – Spelling mistakes You may find that the Reading and Speaking sections have too many questions to answer. You will need to be careful about your time management, otherwise you cannot reach the last question, causing unnecessary lost points.…

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A PTE Academic test takes around 2.5 hours depending on the questions you will have. There are four assessment sections and you will see the sections in the order below. 1. Speaking 2. Writing 3. Reading 4. Listening Here are the actual test question types by sections: Speaking 1. Reading aloud 2. Repeat sentence 3. Describing images 4. Retell lecture 5. Answer short questions Writing 1. Summarize written text 2. Essay Reading 1. Fill in the blanks 2. Multiple choice questions 3. Re-order paragraphs 4. Fill in the blanks 5. Multiple choice questions Listening 1. Summarize spoken text 2. Multiple…

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PTE Academic PTE Academic (PTE) is an English test provided by Pearson. Comparable tests are IELTS which is provided by the British Council and TOEFL which is provided by the Educational Testing Service. PTE is a completely computer based test. Although its inception is fairly recent (2009), more and more institutions are accepting this form of test to assess its applicants’ English proficiency. For example, in Australia and New Zealand, these migration offices assess candidates’ English competency based on their English test score. Due to this situation, PTE Academic’s presence is on the rise. Accepted institutions can be found through…

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Due to globalization, nowadays people are not restricted to stay in one place but are allowed to seek opportunities globally based on their preferences. That means, you have much more choices of what and where to go compared to the life in the prior centuries. I have been living in Australia for over 6 years now, and while it does not provide everything I had in my homeland, it does provide great people and environment, which has never made me consider leaving this beautiful country. Australia is a country that welcomes approximately 200,000 migrants every year. Because so many of…

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