PTE: Five Secrets to Pass
By now, some of you may have realized that it’s ‘easier’ to pass some skills than the others. Most students can pass, say. Listening and Writing, fairly more readily than say, Reading and Speaking. So, what does it take to pass ALL skills? Here are five (5) PTE secrets revealed!
1. Really get to know the Score Guide. Seriously, some students lose valuable marks just because they misunderstand the scoring system. You want to earn as many marks as possible, while avoiding losing as few marks as possible.
2. Devise appropriate strategies and stick to them. Once you know what criteria each test item is based on, practise to improve that criterion. For example, good fluency without undue gaps in all speaking item types will not only help boost your score in Fluency, but a high fluency mark can compensate for a lower Pronunciation mark, pushing you across the threshold of your target score.
3. Focus and maintain. You need to devote more hours to address your weaknesses, yet still practise on those areas you have passed. Your scores for each skill may go up or down by 10 or even 20 points. Do NOT ignore any part altogether.
4. Allow yourself ample time to prepare for the test. Students who have average scores of around 65 would need roughly 3-4 months of concentrated efforts and at least three trials of the test before achieving over 79 in all bands. PTE is not a ‘trial and error’ or ‘just in case I’m lucky this time’ test!
5. Understand the score. Some students may achieve, say around >80 in enabling skills, but only get 70 in communicative skills. The reverse can happen too. Lower enabling skill scores but 10 point higher communicative skill score! Weird! The secret? The Main Points! So, make sure you practise taking notes of main points in writing and listening too!
25 January 2017
Telaga
PTE TIP!
Many students find the reading section the hardest section of the test because it relies on your fast high level reading skills, wide vocabulary, and strong familiarity with written expressions and collocations. So from now until you pass your test read for at least one hour everyday, in quiet, without stopping to use a dictionary. Choose a book with a good story so you want to read, and use your finger or a pen as a guide to force you to read at a good speed. If you’re not used to reading then this takes practice, but it won’t take long to get your reading speed and comprehension up to 300+ words per minute. We don’t need luck 😉
PTE: Five Roads to Success
Like many, you may have heard that the PTE test is ‘easier’ to pass than IELTS, and the good news is, you may be right! Our students have been passing this test regularly every month. Yet, still many find this test another hurdle for them. So, whether you’re aiming for 79, 65 or ‘only’ 50, we are here to help you achieve your target band. Just follow these five (5) easy steps:
- Take one of our courses. This will give you all-round familiarity and understanding of the test. This option will save you plenty of time of self research into the test because we are qualified trainers and assessors in exam preps, including the PTE.
- Get a book. It’s worthwhile to run that extra mile of practice to score higher, and pick a suitable one for your level of English.
- Free practice on the moodle. We’ve designed numerous online practices so that you can apply the tips, strategies and language you’ve learned in class to boost your test-taking confidence.
- Buy the Pearson mock tests. For one thing, you can experiment on your speaking style to maximise your score. Many students pass the test after they know how to approach the mock test and then replicate this strategy in the real exam.
- Book a tutor. Tutors will help push you across the finish line by giving you expert personalised coaching to identify and work on your weaknesses.
FINAL TIPS: Plan and book your favourite test centre 2-3 months in advance and prepare accordingly. Good luck!
19 December 2016
Telaga
Resources for Improving Your ListeningSkills
One of the most important parts of preparing for the listening sub-test is exposing yourself to as much spoken English as possible. Ideally, this should be health-related. To increase your confidence and proficiency, I recommend the using the podcasts found on the websites below:
Health-related programs on Radio National:
All in the Mind
Health Report
Life Matters
However, you need to do more than just listen to the podcasts. The following steps will help you to make the most of these resources:
- Listen to the podcast while reading the transcript.NOTEDOWN any unfamiliar words and add them to your vocabulary list, along with their definition.
- For the CDC website, click “Listen to this podcast”, then click the “Transcript” button.
- For the ABC Radio National, click on the title of the podcast on the program home page, then click the “Show Transcript” button.
- Listen to the podcast again, without the transcript, and write down the MAIN points you heard. You can pause the podcast as often as you want to, but make sure you are still being challenged to keep up.
- Use the transcript, or replay the podcast, to check if you took notes accurately.
Going through steps 1-3 with at least one podcast per day will help you to improve your vocabulary, writing speed and, of course, listening skills.
The key, however, is to do it consistently! 😉
Good luck,
Anna Brzeska
OET Teacher
Hi everyone, 皆さん、こんにちは
My Japanese lessons includes practices to develop skills of speaking, reading, listening, writing, interacting and constructing and performing students’ own dialogues by pairs/groups or by oneself. The learning included the language and cultural skills to be used in travelling in Japan and general understanding on Japanese culture. Speaking practice sometimes used the pictures, information, concepts/ideas or topics from the brochures of Japanese newspapers, the ads, Nichigo Press and other Japanese monthly magazine such as Japaralia.
Regarding my class teaching, Group lessons were finished last month and I had only weekly tutorials for two students’ class (a father and his son who is a secondary school student) and a company executive who I have been teaching for 2 years.
For the above, 2 students’ class, we have been using “Training Material” (for teaching Japanese) of SLS. I also taught other useful grammar, vocab, colloquial phrases, phonetics, dialogue constructions etc esp. based on common use in daily life or travel life Japan. Also, traditional or commonly respected value and behavior and other cultural features, transport system, the thick book of the JR Network of Jikokuhyo (timetable of all the railway network) which you will see at every station in Japan and used by the public. As for script, they learned the basic knowledge of Hiragana, its writing and reading to some extent. It was also done through homework with use of worksheets given. In addition, I read and explained Japanese traditional fairy tales.
The earlier mentioned, my another (and very consistent/committed and hardworking tutorial student in Japanese) a company executive, David Bare, who takes a regular advisor’s role for the NSW government for the issues of building industry and regularly writes/speaks for the media, is happy to help any genuine learners of Japanese for info.
Above David has taken the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT), N5 earlier this month. He said it had been a very interesting experience and he was happy to have taken the Test. He informed me that he had been surprised to know/see many people had taken the Test on that day. According to the info., even just at the venue of Uni. of NSW on that day, the numbers of people who took the Test were: 98 people in the Test N5, 120 in N4 and N3, 150 in N2 and 97 in N1. – That is marvelous and so positive, in my view. I had heard that in China and Korea, the numbers of the participants in the JLPT are tens of thousands (biggest numbers for overseas Test conducting). But certainly the numbers of candidates in Australia are solidly increasing that will be good for the relation between Japan and Australia (and overseas).
When Mr Donald Trump was elected for the US Presidency, on the NHK TV’s news program, virtually every interviewee expressed serious worries about that and the future relations between Japan and the US. However, recently the CEO of SoftBank, Masayoshi Son said to the President-elect Trump that SoftBank will invest approximately $50 billion technology fund in the US that would create 50,000 new jobs. (http://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Equities/SoftBank-shares-soar-on-AI-hopes, news on 19 Dec., 16). Trump said “Masa is a great business leader!” and praised the CEO after their meeting (according to the NHK TV news).
Toshiko Jackson (Japanese teacher)
25.12.16
OET Writing – Making subjects and verbs agree Part 2: Compound Subjects
The word “compound” means made up of two or more parts. Here are some examples of compound subjects:
- “diet and exercise”
- “blood pressure, glucose level and mental state”
- “food or medication”
- “condition, complication or concern”
When more than one noun or pronoun is the subject of one verb, each of them still needs to agree with the verb. There are certain rules that must be followed:
Joined by AND:
Rule #1: Two or more singular or plural nouns joined by “and” act as a plural compound subject, and a plural verb is used.
e.g. The venlafaxine and aspirin are being continued.
Joined by OR/NOR:
Rule #2: When two or more singular or plural nouns are joined by “or/nor”, the verb agrees with the noun closest to it.
e.g. Neither the mother nor the baby had any postnatal issues.
e.g. Mr Jones or his relatives are collecting his medication.
Try the exercise below to practice your subject-verb agreement skills! J
Best of luck,
Anna Brzeska (OET Teacher)
Exercise : Circle the correct verb (singular or plural) in the following sentences:
- The date and time of the accident is/are not certain.
- Physical therapy and acupuncture is/are recommended by the orthopedist.
- Neither the patient nor the doctor was/were prepared for the tumor found in the patient’s brain on MRI last Tuesday.
- Dietary changes or insulin commencement is/are
Answers: 1. are, 2. are, 3. was, 4. is.
– Anna Brzeska, OET Teacher
OET Writing – Making subjects and verbs agree (Part 1)
When you write in English, you have to follow a rule called subject-verb agreement. This is also known as “number agreement”, because subjects and verbs have to “agree” with one another in number. That is, if the subject of a verb is singular, then the verb must also be singular. If the subject is plural, then the verb must also be plural.
- This is simplest in the present tense: nouns become plural by adding an s, and verbs become plural by removing an s.
1.a. The patient takes medication.
1.b. The patients take medication.
- For verbs in the past simple tense (without any helping verbs), the same verb is used regardless of whether the noun is singular or plural.
2.a. The doctor assessed the patient.
2.b. The doctors assessed the patient.
- However, if a helping verb is used, then this needs to agree with the subject:
3.a. The doctor has assessed the patient.
3.b. The doctors have assessed the patient.
The following are all helping verbs:
| Singular | Plural |
| is | are |
| was | were |
| has | have |
| does | do |
Practice using these different helping verbs with the sentences in examples 3.a and 3.b.
- Finally, the subject-verb agreement rule applies to all pronouns except I and you (singular). Even though Modafinil health they are singular, I and you (singular) always use the plural verb:
4.a. I appreciate your help with this patient.
4.b. You (singular) talk to the girl.
Remember, this is for verbs that have only one subject! Stay tuned for Part 2 – Compound subjects.
All the best with your preparation!
– Anna Brzeska, OET Teacher
Hi everyone, 皆さん、こんにちは。
My Japanese classes/lessons included practices to develop skills of speaking, reading, listening, writing, interacting and constructing/performing students’ own dialogues by pairs/groups or by oneself. The learning included the language and cultural skills to be used in travelling in Japan and general understanding on Japanese culture. Speaking practice 
sometimes used the pictures, information, concepts/ideas or topics from the brochures of the Japan National Tourism Organizations, Japanese newspapers, its ads, Nichigo Press, another Japanese monthly magazine, Japaralia and Daily Telegraph.
My past groups’ 10 weeks’ courses and Corporate Course in Surry Hills were finished. I had only tutorial sessions of two students. One is the usual student of weekly sessions who is a company executive. He has been working esp. with the Workbook of Japanese for Busy People Bk 2 (apart from its course book) and a preparatory book for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, N5. He is always keen, consistent and versatile for the study and managing that with his busy schedule. He has a Japanese client, who he communicates/meets for work at times and who is the CEO of a highly known, Japanese multinational. That is helpful for many ways.
My another student of regular and weekly tutorials has been in Japan for a few weeks’ trip. She had a fabulous time/trip with her husband in Japan. She will be back to my lessons in June.
I had a new student (tutorial), who works for a big hotel and who had completed Japanese in the HSC. She was proficient in Japanese and passionate in developing the skills and knowledge. She is planning to take one of the Japanese Proficiency Tests in the near future.
As for the news about Japan, I heard the following from esp. NHK TV news program (on SBS TV) and other media (The Weekend Australian, 28-29.5.16, p. 11).
The 42nd G7 Summit was held in Ise-Shima, Mie Prefecture on 26-27 May. After the Summit, the US President Barack Obama visited Hiroshima and its Peace Memorial Park and the Prime Minister Shinzo Abe too paid the tribute to the 140,00 people died by the world’s first atomic bomb attack. The President is the 1st President of the US who visited there as the incumbent President of the US. – NHK TV showed that the President’s visit to Ise-Shima and Hiroshima brought sensationally positive and happy responses from the public and on the streets. One man said with extreme joy that he had gone from other prefecture to Ise-Shima/Mie Prefecture to see him in sight. There were many others too who expressed so much joy to see the President.
Japanese Teacher, Toshiko Jackson
31.5.16
Thai Lesson at Sydney Language Solutions
Thai Lesson,
Hello there, my Thai classes here we use the SLS material and hand out some other interesting materials that I find outside, in my class I encourage the students to always pronounce the Thai words over and over, this would help them get used to with the tone and rhythm, also make sure they pronounce it right. As some of you know that we have five different tones and the tone is so important in learning Thai. We do a lot of practicing in the class and try to make it fun.
I just finished the beginning 1 and 2 classes last month. They were enjoyable classes everyone cooperated well with the activities in classes and little homework I asked. Some had very interesting questions which is really helpful to me and other students. Questions from students are very important to me and the classes, they always show us another aspect and something that’s not in the materials. I always encourage them to ask any question about Thai even about our culture which I am happy to share. Some of them have Thai partners or friends so they often came up with the variety questions which I found them very interesting. Some of my students were going to travel to Thailand some have been there few times, we shared the information and advice. I guided them what sentences to use some tips in some circumstance. I also encouraged them to find the chance to practice their speaking for example; when they go to Thai restaurant try to order in Thai. The students arranged to continue the next class together and I hope to see them soon.
A new beginning 1 class just started last week they all made it well in the first class, I hope they enjoy the entire of the class and develop the skills get some knowledge from my class.
Apapat Promnee, Thai teacher.
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