What is ‘Describe Image’?

• Describe Image is the third speaking Item type in the PTE Speaking section. There are usually 6-7 questions for Describe Image that may come with pictures or videos for illustrations. Describe Image only credits you score for Speaking.
• Describe Image requires you to demonstrate your ability to describe what you see in the image provided. Please remember that your only job is to Describe, so you are not to Explain any features, nor are you to Interpret any hidden messages. You only Describe the literal meaning and items that you see in the image.

What do I do?

• You will have 25 seconds to look at the picture and decide what to say.
• You will have 40 seconds to describe the image to the microphone.

Scoring Criteria

• Describe Image is scored based on three Criteria – (1) Oral Fluency – (2) Pronunciation – (3) Content.
• Among the three criteria, Oral Fluency is the most important while Content is the least important. This means that you can score high in Speaking with good Oral Fluency and bad Content, but you can NOT score high in Speaking with bad Oral Fluency and good Content.
• Remember, it’s all about Oral Fluency. The more fluent you are, the higher score in Speaking you can achieve.

Common Mistakes

• We all like to interpret and explain because it shows higher order thinking and the ability to analyse and evaluate. Also, this makes our answer look more sophisticated and advanced. Will this bring extra marks? The answer is NO.
• The reason being is when you interpret, the information you say is not included in the transcript which the computer bases upon to mark your work. As a result, your Content mark will below.
• Moreover, interpreting and explaining require thinking, and once you think, you will not be fluent. Hence, this combination drags both your Content and Oral Fluency marks down.

Tips

To do Describe Image well, you can consider these steps

1. Have a generic opening phrase ‘The picture in front of me gives information about…’
2. Read the Title and the Legend/ Note
3. Have a direction for yourself – From Left to Right/ From Top to Bottom
4. Only use words that you are 100% confident with their Pronunciation
5. Minimise Thinking → Keep it Simple and Easy

What is ‘Read Aloud’?

• Read Aloud is the first speaking Item type in the PTE Speaking section. There are usually 6-7 questions for Read Aloud and it credits you score for both Speaking and Reading.
• Read Aloud requires you to demonstrate your ability to read fluently and pronounce correctly a passage provided on the screen.
• Read Aloud tests you on your ability to identify a writer’s purpose, style, tone or attitude; understand academic vocabulary and read a text under timed conditions (PTE Score Guide, v.11, 2019)

What do I do?

• You will have 40 seconds to prepare before the microphone opens.
• You will have 40 seconds to read the passage out loud to the microphone.

Scoring Criteria

• Read Aloud is scored based on three Criteria – (1) Oral Fluency – (2) Pronunciation – (3) Content.
• Among the three criteria, Oral Fluency is the most important while Content is the least important. This means that you can score high in Speaking with good Oral Fluency and bad Content, but you can NOT score high in Speaking with bad Oral Fluency and good Content.
• Remember, it’s all about Oral Fluency. The more fluent you are, the higher score in Speaking you can achieve.

Common Mistakes

• We all like to have everything perfect and so is doing Read Aloud. We all want to read all the words out loud and pronounce them all correctly. Therefore, we never mind repeating ourselves a million times or hesitating in pronouncing a word for perfect pronunciation. Why not? It’s all for perfection! The more perfect we are, the better score we get. However, this seems to be a misconception that we know but find it hard to find back our human instinct in perfecting what you do.
• The brutal fact is if you miss or mispronounce a few words in the passage, it’s not the end of the world. However, repeating yourself to make sure you read all of the words in the passage guarantees you a ticket to the PTE website to re-book for another PTE test. So choose wisely!
• What’s else? The punctuation! We were all taught at primary school that we pause at commas and rest for our breath at full stops. We were all taught that reading slowly and musically enhances the effects of our speech. We were all taught that leaving some extended pauses may leave the audience some room to think. So we apply these beautifully taught habits into PTE, and wait with a fantasy that the highly anticipated magic number ‘90’ will appear on our Score Report; and sadly, fall down to earth from cloud nine knowing that the magic number has been printed the other way around. So think wisely!

Tips

To do Read Aloud well, you can consider these steps

1. Prepare yourself in the 40 seconds wait. Read SILENTLY to yourself so you can prepare for the pronunciation of difficult words.
2. What if you don’t know the pronunciation. Easy, just say whatever you think is right!
3. Put your finger on the screen. Trace the finger along when you read. This helps with concentration.
4. Speak fluently and fast, but allow you a quick pause at full stops so you can catch your breath.