u/OilFront8766

First of all, I want to extend a heartfelt gratitude to everyone who shared valuable tips and tricks during my PTE preparation journey.

Absolutely thankful to Nakul (SkillsPTEAcademic Channel) from Youtube. Please follow his videos.

Speaking -

Most important - If you're practicing on phone, play this video on another device. This is a good video to simulate the test center noise.
https://youtu.be/lnGI1NPTIi4?si=MeeFIv_-gD0iR5it

1. RA : I was very nervous about this section as I was taking this test for the first time. My
   sentences were so easy that even a 10-year-old could read them.

2. RS : These sentences were much simpler than I anticipated. I used to practice 'Predictive'
   and 'Difficult' sentences.

Trick that helped me : Start with Easy-> Medium sentences. Try remembering first few words of the sentence, and eventually your capacity to remember words will increase. I practiced more than 50-60 sentences at a stretch.

3. DI : Follow Nakul's easy template.

The given image is ____ <bar graph/pie chart/picture/donut chart/line graph> that
illustrates <title of the chart/image/graph>
X axis talks about ____ Y axis talks about ___ <If it is a picture, mention colors/shapes
used> Mention highest, lowest values, and another one important point.
Overall, the image gives information about.

4. RL : I practiced on Notepad app of Windows until 6-7 days before the exam. As soon as I
   learned that the exam does not allow to take notes with a keyboard, I tried to take down
   notes with a pen and paper. Failed to take notes, then switched to Reusable notepad and
   the marker. It is difficult initially, but eventually you'll start getting better at it.
   Here's the link -

5. SGD : Same as RL.

Writing -

1. SWT - I was repetitively failing to get good scores on SWT. Started picking those
   sentences that made the most sense to me. Even I don't know how I ended up getting
   that 90 in Writing.

2. Essay - I used to hate writing essays during practice.
   Followed simple trick - Keep it simple. Used simple sentences, used easy words. Made a
   note of a few good words in the context of academic writing and used only those. You can
   ask ChatGPT or ClaudeAI to give you a list of words that applies in almost every essay. Use
   the words that you can remember easily, you can ask of a generic template as well.

My essay topic was - I do not remember the exact wording, but it was similar to the following.

Should age restriction be applied for activities like driving, voting, etc. Select one activity and write your opinion on it.

Reading -

I thought it would be simpler, but I got pretty less marks in this. So, I am not the right person to give any tips in this section. Follow this video for best tips and tricks.
https://youtu.be/RIIzgL0CGtU?si=o3gVReCIcT4s82cc

1. FIB (Dropdown) - No more than 60-90 seconds on this question. Try to solve the easier
   blanks first on every question.

2. Multiple Choice, Multiple Answers - Do not spend more than 30 seconds on this question.
   If you're unable to solve it, just mark one option and go ahead, because this question
   carries negative marking. So, unless you're very sure of the multiple answer options, do
   not select multiple answers.

3. Multiple Choice, Single Answer - Skim the paragraph and try to find an answer.

4. Reorder Paragraphs - Try to spend no more than 30-40 seconds. Believe me, this actually
   leaves you with ample time to solve FIB Drag and Drop.

Listening -

Do not spend more than 30 seconds on MCMA, MCSA, HCS, so that you can get more time on WFD (a relatively high-scoring question).

1. SST - Try to take note of maximum number of important points in the answer textbox
   provided on the screen. Use a template that suits you the best.

   For me this one worked:

   The lecture mainly focused on <important keywords>. The speaker mentioned <>.
   Moreover, he/she also talked about <another set of keywords/phrases/sentences>.
   <If word limit allows> Furthermore, he/she explained that or <simply phrases that you
   made note of>. He/She concluded that <conclusion phrase>.

   Leave no extra spaces, make no spelling and grammar mistakes.

2. FIB - I have a fair control over spellings, so this task was not difficult for me. The questions
   were easy.

3. Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer - I don't know if anyone has shared this trick, but this is
   what worked for me. Listen extra cautiously and try to take notes of what the speaker is
   saying. This gives you the benefit to have something to refer to while solving the
   question. If you just rely on your memory, your memory may betray you. Also, this would
   make you better for RL/SGD from Speaking section.

4. Highlight Incorrect Words - Be attentive. Mark only those words which you're sure of. This
   question has a negative marking too. I got to know about this just few days before the
   exam.

5. Multiple Choice, Single Answer - Take notes of important points. Questions are not that
   twisted. Take notes about the period the speaker mentions of, important changes, when
   those changes happened, what were those changes related to, etc.

6. Highlight Correct Summary - Take notes and you'll be fine.

7. Select Missing Word - You can use extra words; I used too in one of the questions.
   If you're not sure about a word, tense, singular/plural forms, articles, write all of those.
   This was also a trick that I found in videos of both, LanguageAcademy and Nakul
   SkillsPTEAcademic.

I hope all these tricks help. All the best.

Just wanted to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone in this group who shared advice, experiences, strategies, and encouragement during my PTE journey. Reading your posts and comments genuinely helped me stay motivated and learn a lot along the way.

Wishing the very best to everyone still preparing or waiting for results.

I'll soon post a detailed preparation tips and tricks. I've scored less in Reading because it was always weak since the beginning of my preparation for this test.

Keep going — your hard work will pay off.

Good luck to all of you! 🍀

I have been getting low scores consistently in Writing questions and that's why I am practicing more on those questions on AlfaPTE, however, the scoring system of AlfaPTE is really unjust. I am getting a straight zero on all the first three screenshots added. I agree, "yet" is a wrong connector in the first screenshot, but I got suggestions from ChatGPT for the other two times, but I am still getting a zero.

I checked one of the latest answers from the community that has got 90/90 in both Reading and Writing, but if I see the content, it doesn't make any sense to me. The last screenshot refers to that answer.

Please help how should I attack SWT so as to get a superior score in Writing. :(

I appreciate all the inputs! Thanks!

I am following the formula of writing the sentences with a prominent meaning from each paragraph and connecting them with suitable connectors, however, AlfaPTE is confusing me.

But when put for scoring, it deducted my 0.5 mark showing a grammar error.

This morning, I took a sectional test for Speaking on Gurully and here are my scores.

How much should I get in the real exam?