How to make short notes for RETELL LECTURE for PTE Academic.

Effective strategies for RETELL LECTURE

1. First of all observe the picture/image given in the question. You can anticipate something about the topic on which the lecture would be.
2. Keep your erasable notebook and marker ready to make notes.
3. Once you start listening to the lecture, make the notes of the key points and the supporting ideas.
4. Never try to write down everything in the lecture. Pick up only the key words and use your own symbols, abbreviations and arrows to jot down the important points. Make a flow of the ideas so that you can speak fluently.

Example: –  The following is the transcript of a lecture. I shall tell you how to pick up the key points…

TRANSCRIPT 1

In today’s lecture I’m going to talk about changes in air pollution since the middle of the last century and what has created these changes. So, um – by the I 950s, air pollution was very visible with frequent thick black fogs known as ‘smogs’ in many large cities around the world. The main source of this pollution was from factories and it caused severe health problems. For example, a particularly severe smog in London in 1952 caused over four thousand deaths.

Obviously something had to be done and in 1956 a Clean Air Act was introduced in Britain. This addressed the pollution from factories and the smogs soon disappeared, However, as you know, these days air pollution is still a big issue. The main difference between now and the 1950’s is that you can’t see it – it’s invisible. Also, the main source of pollution now is from cars and lorries,

and although these don’t produce visible signs, this air pollution is still a significant risk to health. And one of the key factors in the rise of this type of pollution is that we have all become much more vehicle-dependent, There are far more cars and lorries, trains and planes than in the 1950’s and this is now the main source of air pollution around the world.

• Now that you have made the notes of the key points, it would be very easy to form the story for your speaking. You will have 10 seconds to recollect your ideas.
• Finally when the recording bar appears start speaking with a confident tone. Make sure you speak FLUENTLY & with CORRECT PRONUNCIATON of the words. You will have 40 seconds to complete this task.

All the Best

Happy Practising.

If you have any queries you can email me on yogeshparmar74@gmail.com

 

Repeated Essay’s in PTE Academic Exam

Essay Topics for PTE Academic
1.Do you think consumer should avoid over packed products or it is responsibility of producer to avoid extra packaging of products?” Give your views or any relevant example with your own experience.
2. Many people think regions affect successful persons. What is your opinion about native regions and accomplished person influence on the regions they belong to
3. The environment we are living in is in danger due to various problems…so who do u think should be responsible to solve it? Is it the governments, organisation or each individuals?
4. Nowadays TV has become an essential part of life. Medium to spread news & awareness and for some it acts like a companion. What is your opinion about this?
5. Company Top level Authorities should or should not take employees suggestions or ideas to take any decisions. Discuss
6. Successful sports stars and glamorous film stars are a role model for youngsters. Do u support it or not? (Agree/Disagree)
7. Company Top level Authorities should or should not take employees suggestions or ideas to take any decisions. Discuss
8. In education system, assessment through written formal examinations is valid or not.
9. Large shopping malls are replacing small shops. What is your opinion about this? Discuss with appropriate examples.
10. Talk about the pros/ cons of this era as is full of daily inventions
11. ANY NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE RECENT YEARS IS A BOON OR CURSE FOR THE SOCIETY IN GENERAL
12. It is argue that getting married before finishing school or getting a job is not a good choice. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
13. Parents should be held legally responsible for their children’s acts. What is your opinion? Support it with personal examples….
14. Marketing strategy for big companies should be placed on offer and discounts, and in what ways this can impact on their reputation.
15. What is the best invention of last 100 years, computer, antibiotics, airplane, and explain why.
16. Dangerous activities like extreme skiing, bungee jumping etc. and whether u support them or not
17. Do you think that place where the person grew has an influence on his accomplishments? Explain with example.
18. Climate change and about the roles that Government, Corporates and Individuals can play to improve it.
19. Nowadays TV has become an essential part of life. Medium to spread news & awareness and for some it acts like a companion. What is your opinion about this?
20. Company Top level Authorities should or should not take employees suggestions or ideas to take any decisions. Discuss
21. Some people believe laws change human behaviour. Do you agree with it?
22. Illiterate of the future would not be one who does not know to read, but people who does not know how to learn
23. Positive and negative effects of the information revolution through mass media.
24. Pros and cons of adventures sports.
25. Large shopping malls are replacing small shops. What is your opinion about this? Discuss with appropriate examples.
26. Talk about the pros/ cons of this era as is full of daily inventions
27. Dangerous activities like extreme skiing, bungee jumping etc. and weather u support them or not
28. It is argued that getting married before finishing school or getting a job is not a good choice. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
29. Imitating celebrities in sports and movies is good or bad
30. Any recent Invention that you think proved beneficial or detrimental to society.
31. In the past 100 years, there are many inventions such as antibiotics, air planes and computers. What do you think is the most important invent for the past 100 years? Why?
32. Do you think that formal written examinations are a good way to assess knowledge at school?
33. Information revolution has changed the ways of mass communication and had some negative and positive effects on individuals’ lives as well as on society. To what extent you are agree or disagree ?
34. Learning a new language at an early age is helpful for children. Is it more positive for their future aspect or have some adverse effects. Do u agree or disagree? Give examples from your experience.
35. In under developed countries, tourism has disadvantages and can be said the opposite as well.
36. Communication has changed significantly in the last 10 years. Discuss the positive and negative impacts of this change.
37. Education is the biggest barrier in my learning – Einstein. What do you mean by this? And do you think Einstein was correct in saying that.
38. Positive and Negative effects of today’s communication.
39. Discuss both sides of Space travel verses current crucial problems faced by human?
40. Do you think English will remain to be a global language despite globalisation?
41. Some people think placing advertisements in schools is a great resource for public schools that need additional funding, but others think it exploits children by treating them as a captive audience for corporate sponsors. Choose which position you most agree with and discuss why you chose that position. Support your point of view with details from your own experiences, observations or reading.
42. Television has many useful functions to play in everyone’s life, for some its relaxation, for some it is companion. Discuss your viewpoint and support your answer with examples and discussion point.
43. You are given climate as the field of study. Which area will you prefer? Explain why you picked up the particular area for your study?
44. People pursue dangerous activities like sky diving, motorcycle sports, white-water river rafting etc. Do you support? If yes, why and if not, why?
45. .’In future illiterate will not be those who cannot read, but those who do not learn’ – By some writer. Discuss what do you understand by this statement and state your reason.

46.It is foolish to get married before getting higher education
47.Scientist are constantly exploring , other planets rather than resolving problems of their own planet”do you think they should explore or try to evade problems of own planet

All the Best

Keep Practising

 

How to Master Fluency & Pronunciation

Learn How to improve Fluency and Pronunciation

A) Decide your accent
There are many different kinds of English accents. The two most common are British and American. There are many different accents even within British or American pronunciation, but most learning materials will help you learn either a standard British accent or a standard American accent.
American pronunciation and British pronunciation are completely different. The consonant sounds are the same (except for the letter ‘t’ and an ‘r’ after a vowel), but the vowel sounds are very different. The British accent has more vowel sounds, and some vowel letters are pronounced differently.

B) Learn new word daily and pronounce it correctly

The longer you say a word incorrectly, the harder it becomes to learn to say it correctly. You’ve developed a bad habit, and it takes a long time to break a bad habit! This is why it is so important to learn the International Phonetic Alphabet and use dictionaries specifically for English learners.For example, let’s say you see a new word when you’re reading a book: outrageous. How do you pronounce this word? Let’s check the following online dictionaries specifically for English learners:

MW Learner’s Dictionary
MacMillan Online Dictionary

http://www.thesaurus.com/
All of these dictionaries show you the IPA/phonetic transcription of the word (including which syllable you must stress)
You can also click on the red speaker icon to hear someone say the word.

C) Watch YouTube pronunciation videos
American accent: Choose your accent
British accent: Choose your accent

D) Try to imitate spoken English

To ‘imitate’ means to copy someone/something, to do something the same way, or to do the same things as someone else. Do you really like the way someone speaks English? Try to copy the way they speak.

Do you ever try to make fun of someone from another part of your country by imitating his accent? That’s what you need to do in English!

This is a great activity to try: Close your eyes while you’re listening to something in English (podcasts, songs, TV shows, movies, etc.). Listen carefully to what the speaker is saying and try to make the same sounds. Hear the sounds, don’t try to see the words. Choose a word or sentence, and listen to it many times.

D) Practice HEARING the sounds of English
Before you listen to an English podcast, song, etc. read the words first. Highlight, circle, or underline the sound you want to work on. For example, if you have trouble with the /I/ sound, highlight all the words that you think have the /I/ sound. Read the passage out loud to yourself, focusing on the words with /I/. Listen to the podcast (or song, etc.). Can you hear the /I/ sound? Practice the sound by trying to imitate what the speaker is saying.

E) Record yourself
It’s important to hear what you sound like speaking English so you know what you need to improve! You can compare what you sound like to what you want to sound like. For example, you record yourself reading a sentence from one of my podcasts. Then, listen to me say the same sentence and compare your pronunciation.
If you don’t have any recording software on your computer (like Windows Sound Recorder or GarageBand on Macs), you can use a web-based audio recorder.
.
F) Practice for at least 30 minutes every day
There is no way around it: the only way your pronunciation will improve is if you practice, practice, practice! Your pronunciation will not magically improve just because you’re speaking English. The sounds of English may be very different from the sounds in your language. It may be difficult and even uncomfortable for your mouth to make some of the sounds in English.
You need to practice with a purpose. Practice the sounds of English until they feel as natural and comfortable as the sounds of your language. It won’t happen overnight, but gradually your pronunciation will improve.

All the Best

Happy Practising

Read Aloud Strategies

READ ALOUD

Tips for Read Aloud:

• We get around 7-8 questions in this section.
• Fluency carries maximum weight age so speak without any hesitancy.
• Be clear and confident. Speak with enthusiasm.
• Speak at a pace that is comfortable for you and try to sound as natural as possible. I feel if you try to impose a speed that is not comfortable to you, it may do more harm than good.
• Search for difficult words and pronounce it clearly in your mind before it starts recording.
• Fluctuation in the tone and stress for some words is important.
• Watch for plural words, don’t pronounce them wrongly.
• Use the given 35 seconds to read through the text and identify the difficult words with which you might struggle.
• Pay attention to flow of the sentences. Take care of the commas (,) colons(:) semicolons (;) inverted commas(“—–“) and give an appropriate pause and stress as and when required.
• While reading aloud, you should not speak in a flat tone. Just remember the way a radio Jockey or announcer speaks i.e. clearly and in a rhythm. The listener should feel that the information you are giving is interesting, and is able to understand easily. When there is a full stop, your voice should also fade away to make the listener feel that your sentence has ended.
• Try to read the sentence like a news reader with some intonation and purpose.
• Take care of inappropriate stress and incorrect pronunciation of some words.
• Before it starts recording, read the entire sentence once .
• Don’t speak too fast and too slow (record at an appropriate speed)
• Also do not speak loudly. Speak at a normal pitch. Firstly when you speak loudly the computer cannot understand. Secondly it will disturb the other candidates and in return they would also speak loudly, which will disturb you.
• Time for this section is more than sufficient.
• Start speaking as soon as the recording bar appears or when you listen to the beep. If you do not speak for 3 seconds during the process, the computer will stop recording your voice.
• Do not try to speak in foreign accent. Speak in a neutral accent i.e. in your natural way.

All the best

Happy Practising

PTE Academic – Describe Image in (Speaking) Tips

Dear Readers,

Greetings,

Describe Image is a very important part in the speaking section of PTE Academic.

What is all about

In Describe Image section you will have 25 second to read and analyse the graph/picture/map/life cycle/process. After understanding the given image you will have to speak about it for 40 seconds.

Tips for Describe Image

• Two very important things to be taken care of is to speak fluently and with right pronunciation.
• Time allotted is 40 seconds.
• Speak clearly and concisely.
• Firstly introduce the graph type/picture or the Image type. Paraphrase the topic of the graph.
• Secondly explain about the horizontal & vertical axis or the parts of the graph or the contents of the picture or the product or life cycle.
• Thirdly clarify about the most striking feature of the graph/picture. Point out about the highest/lowest/general trend/noticeable trend/main features.
• Lastly conclude.
• Be sure to wrap up the speech in the stipulated time.
• Try not to repeat he words again & again.
• Do not try to explain the minute minute details.
• Keep on speaking the full time and conclude before the recording bar ends
• Practise with different images.
• Identify trends. A trend is the overall idea of the graph
  • what is happening/what happened
  • the main change over time
  • the most noticeable thing about the graph
  • the pattern over time
  • the pattern for different places or groups or people.

Words to be used in describing images

1. For Starting – The given(Chart,graph, table) shows/illustrates/describes/gives information on/ about……..             According to the, as shown in, as can be seen from the, it can be seen, it is clear/apparent/evident. Shows , depicts , illustrates , represents , elucidates , throws light on, portray, represents, introduce, represent, interpret.
2. Maximum – Highest, acme, zenith, summit, topmost, peak, pinnacle, greatest, top, apex. For e.g The sales soared to its acme/peak/zenith/summit/pinnacle during this period.
3. Minimum – Smallest, tiniest, bottomed, low point, least, modicum , merest , slightest. For e.g the foreign tourists visit was at a low point in the year 2001.
4. Average – stable, constant, moderate, mediocre, intermediate, medium, adequate.
5. Increasing – rise, jump, growth, booming , enlarging , up surging , acceleration, upswing, soar, swell.
6. Decreasing – decline, fall, low point, the bottom, nadir, base, sink diminish, curb, deteriorate.
7. Fluctuating- Flutter, oscillate, rise & fall, go up & down, ebb & flow, see saw.
8. Peak – highest point, topped, pinnacle, tip.
9. Ground level – lowest point, nadir, base, bottom
10. Adverbs to be used -(with Increasing) Suddenly, rose dramatically, shot up significantly, climbed up steeply, went up sharply, swelled rapidly, jumped up quickly, smoothly
11. Adverbs to be used – (with Decreasing) continually, dropped gradually, fell suddenly, went down slowly/slightly/steadily.
12. Prepositions: from/between 1990 to/and 2010
    Movements up: increased, rose, grew, went up
    Movements down: decreased, declined, dropped, went down
    Adjectives: slight, gradual, sharp, sudden, steady
    Adverbs: slightly, gradually, sharply, suddenly, steadily
    No movement: remained steady/stable, was unchanged, stabilized.

All the Best.

Happy Practising.

 

Important Website Links for the PTE Academic Exams – 3

Dear Friends

Greetings,

Today we shall be informing you about the important websites for the READING & LISTENING part of the PTE Academic Exam.

READING

1. For Multiple Choice Questions – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4, Link 5
2. For REORDER PARAGRAPHS – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4
3. For Fill in the Blanks – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3

LISTENING

1. For Summarize Spoken Text – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
2. For Multiple Choice choose Multiple Answers – Link 1, Link 2
3. For FILL IN THE BLANKS – CLICK HERE – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4
4. For Highlight Correct Summary – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2
5. For Select Missing Word – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
6. For Highlight Incorrect Words – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
7. Write from Dictation – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3

Click here for short interesting lectures

All the Best

Happy Practising

How to practice REPEAT SENTENCES

Dear Readers

Greetings,

Today we shall be telling you HOW TO EXCEL IN REPEAT SENTENCES of the PTE Academic SPEAKING section.

Tips

1. The purpose of the task is to asses your ability to repeat a sentence exactly as you hear it. Both speaking and listening skills are assessed. You will hear a sentence and must then repeat it. You will hear each sentence only once. You will have 15 seconds to record your response. In all you will hear 10-12 sentences.
2. In repeat sentences there should be a full concentration and focus on listening the sentence.
3. Try to imagine who the speaker is and to whom he or she is speaking. What is the context in which the sentence might be spoken.
4. Remember that speaking correctly with fluency and right pronunciation carries maximum marks
5. Practice and speak sentences with correct word order.
6. Try to understand the sentence.
7. Remember the tune(Tone) of the sentence in which it is spoken. We can recall the lyrics of a song on the slightest listening to the tune of a song. So the INTONATION of the sentence is very important.
8. Match your rhythm, phrasing & stress of the words with the speaker.
9. Listen to the grammatical structure of the sentence to help you to reconstruct the sentence.
10. There is no time to write the sentence. Believe in your short term memory. It is very powerful.
11. Give a pause for 3-5 seconds and you will recollect what was spoken. Then start speaking as the beep starts.
12. Say every word you hear: but if you don’t know a word, say what you think you heard. Don’t keep mum or skip the words.
13. Pronounce the word clearly.
14. Speak at a normal speed.
15. Listen to the various pod casts by speakers in different English accent. Start by stopping after 3-4 words, then gradually expand until you stop about every 8-10 seconds
16. Train your short term memory by repeating announcements, jingles, advertisements or song lines that you hear.Take the help of a magazine or newspapers and practice it with your friends.
17. Many words in sentence are unstressed or “weak forms”, for e.g. in the phrase as a team, “as a” is unstressed. You will not hear weak forms clearly but the grammar tells you they are present.
18. Remember there is no tone before the microphone opens in this task, so start to speak as soon as the STATUS BOX changes to “Recording”.

Practising Links – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4, Link 5

Keep practising hard.

All the best

Important Website Links for the PTE Academic Exams – 2

Dear Readers,

In continuation of the previous post regarding the important links for the SPEAKING part, we shall discuss and put some light on the WRITING part.

WRITING

1. For SUMMARIZE WRITTEN TEXT – Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4
2. For ESSAY WRITING Click Here – Link 1, Link 2, Link 3

Furthermore we shall also be posting lots of summaries and essays in the coming posts.

Happy practising.

 

Important Website Links for the PTE Academic Exams

Dear Aspirants,

Greetings,

Pls find below some important website links for (PTE) exam practice

SPEAKING

1. For REPEAT SENTENCES : Click Here Link 1, Link 2, Link 3,
2. For READ ALOUD: Click Here
3. For DESCRIBE IMAGES: Link 1, Link 2
4. For RETELL LECTURE: Click Here Link 1, Link 2, Link 3, Link 4
5. For ANSWER SHORT QUESTIONS: Link 1, Link 2, Link 3
6. For PRONUNCIATION PRACTICE: Click Here
7. For SPEAKING TEST PRACTICE: Click Here
8. For LEARNING & SPEAKING new words Click Here
9. This tool will help you to convert your speech into text Click Here

READ ALOUD

Tips for Read Aloud:

• We get around 7-8 questions in this section.
• Fluency carries maximum weight age so speak without any hesitancy.
• Be clear and confident. Speak with enthusiasm.
• Speak at a pace that is comfortable for you and try to sound as natural as possible. I feel if you try to impose a speed that is not comfortable to you, it may do more harm than good.
• Search for difficult words and pronounce it clearly in your mind before it starts recording.
• Fluctuation in the tone and stress for some words is important.
• Watch for plural words, don’t pronounce them wrongly.
• Use the given 35 seconds to read through the text and identify the difficult words with which you might struggle.
• Pay attention to flow of the sentences. Take care of the commas (,) colons(:) semicolons (;) inverted commas(“—–“) and give an appropriate pause and stress as and when required.
• While reading aloud, you should not speak in a flat tone. Just remember the way a radio Jockey or announcer speaks i.e. clearly and in a rhythm. The listener should feel that the information you are giving is interesting, and is able to understand easily. When there is a full stop, your voice should also fade away to make the listener feel that your sentence has ended.
• Try to read the sentence like a news reader with some intonation and purpose.
• Take care of inappropriate stress and incorrect pronunciation of some words.
• Before it starts recording, read the entire sentence once .
• Don’t speak too fast and too slow (record at an appropriate speed)
• Also do not speak loudly. Speak at a normal pitch. Firstly when you speak loudly the computer cannot understand. Secondly it will disturb the other candidates and in return they would also speak loudly, which will disturb you.
• Time for this section is more than sufficient.
• Start speaking as soon as the recording bar appears or when you listen to the beep. If you do not speak for 3 seconds during the process, the computer will stop recording your voice.
• Do not try to speak in foreign accent. Speak in a neutral accent i.e. in your natural way.

 

PTE an overview (What is PTE About ?)

Dear Friends ,

Greetings,

As you know the priority and significance of PTE(Pearson Test of English) is increasing a lot nowadays and lots of aspirants are taking this exam. Before we undergo this exam we should be able to understand its format.

PTE Academic

PTE Academic is the world’s leading computer-based test of English for study abroad and immigration. Typically, PTE Academic results are available within five business days.

Fast

PTE Academic typically delivers results in five business days, so you don’t need to worry about waiting for results.

Flexible Test Dates

In 2013, we ran test sessions 363 days of the year, at one of over 200 locations worldwide, so you can choose a time and place that suits you.

Approved

Approved by the Australian Government for visa applications and accepted by thousands of institutions in the UK, Australia, USA, Canada, New Zealand, and Ireland, including Harvard, Yale and INSEAD.

DID YOU KNOW?

• PTE Academic is a fair test. Our highly accurate computer marking means consistent scores and no potential for examiner bias.
• PTE Academic is secure. Give universities confidence in your score: palm-vein scanning, randomised test forms and data forensics ensure universities know your test score is really yours, and mean that your score is safe.
• PTE Academic tests real-life language. Prepare for life abroad as you listen to university lectures and respond to questions about life on campus with our real-life test of academic English.
• PTE Academic is unlimited. You can send your scores to as many institutions as you choose – there are no additional fees for extra score reports.

For More Details Click Here

ABOUT THE TEST

PTE Academic assesses listening, reading, speaking and writing all via computer in a single 3 hour test session.

To complete a PTE Academic test, you will need to attend a secure Pearson test centre. You will use a computer and headset to listen to, read and respond to questions.

During the three-hour test session there will be three main parts to the test: speaking and writing (together), listening and reading. There are twenty different question formats, ranging from multiple choice through to essay writing and interpreting information.

PTE Academic assesses real-life, academic content, so you will hear excerpts from lectures and view graphs and charts. You will hear a range of accents in the test, from British and American to non-native speakers, so you will be exposed to the type of accents you will encounter in everyday life.

TEST FORMAT:

PART 1: SPEAKING & WRITING (77 – 93 minutes)

• Personal Introduction
• Read aloud
• Repeat sentence
• Describe image
• Re-tell lecture
• Answer short question
• Summarize written text (one sentence)
• Summarize written text (paragraph)
• Essay (20mins)

PART 2: READING (32 – 41 minutes)

• Multiple choice questions (x2)
• Re-order paragraphs
• Fill in the blanks (x2)

A ten minute break is optional

PART 3: LISTENING (45 – 57 minutes)

• Summarize spoken text
• Multiple choice x2
• Fill the blanks
• Highlight the correct summary
• Select missing word
• Highlight incorrect words
• Write from dictation

Click Here For More Details