SPEAKING

Speaking
No. of
Question Preparation Time (Seconds) Beep Time Mark Contribution
Questions
(Seconds)

30-40
Read Aloud 6-7 Yes 40 Speaking and Reading
(Pre-read the text)

- Speaking and
Repeat Sentence 10-12 No 15
(Listen to the audio) Listening

25
Describe Image 3-4 Yes 40 Speaking
(Study the image)

10
(After the audio) Speaking and
Retell Lecture 1-2 Yes 40
(Listen to the audio and Listening
take keywords)

Answer Short - Speaking and

5-6 No 10
Questions (Listen to the audio) Listening
 Read Aloud (RA)
RA is considered to be one of the most difficult questions in the entirety of PTE. This mainly stems from the
difficulty in pronunciation and maintaining fluency. RA is scored based on your fluency, pronunciation and
content. As it contributes to reading as well, its importance and influence on your overall score is even higher.
During RA:

● There are 6-7 questions of this type.

● You are prompted by a text with 40-60 words each that you are to read. You are given 30-40 seconds
to prepare depending on the length of the text.
● There is a short beep which means preparation time is over and the microphone is on.
● You have 40 seconds to read the text (which is always more than enough).
Scoring Criteria
You will be scored based on the following three factors:

1. Fluency: Fluency can be an obstacle for many people. Keeping your speed consistent is very important
for maintaining fluency. Practicing reading regularly can help you improve fluency. You do not
necessarily have to read PTE questions. You can read newspapers, magazines, books, novels or
anything that you prefer. Hesitations, fumbling, uneven speed, unnecessarily pausing mid-sentence
affect fluency.

2. Pronunciation: Pronunciation is one of the hardest parts to improve as it cannot be improved just by
theory. You need to hear the word in order to know the pronunciation. The best way I recommend to
knowing and improving your pronunciation is to listen to English videos like the ones of Ted.com, or
60 seconds YouTube. Keep your eyes on the subtitles (captions) and ears to the audio. Notice how the
speaker pronounces the words and compare it to your own pronunciation. If they differ, your
pronunciation is incorrect, and you need to learn the correct one.

3. Content: Content is the part that worries you the least. Omission of a couple of words is acceptable if
they seem to be too difficult to pronounce (attempting to pronounce difficult words can affect your
fluency).
Tips:
● Even during the preparation time, read the text as you would during the recording time and identify
the words that are difficult for you to pronounce.

● Practice those words in the remaining time and if they still seem difficult, omit those words (do not
say them during recording). You will definitely need to practice skipping words in order to do it
fluently.

● Fluency is the most important aspect while you can keep your speed at your comfort level. However,
if you are having difficulties maintaining fluency, try increasing or decreasing your speed for a few
questions and see what happens.

● Always keep your cursor (mouse) on the next button at the beginning of the question and
immediately click on it after you finish reading. Keeping unnecessary blank time can affect your
fluency.
Pronouncing Years:
● Most of the years are said in pairs of two numbers
1966 - Nineteen Sixty Six, 1428 - Fourteen Twenty Eight

● The years before 1000: Usually the number in the hundreds place is said separately and the rest as one:
431 - Four Thirty One (You can also say Four Hundred Thirty One), 580 - Five Eighty or Five Hundred Eighty One

● Years that have 0 in the third number: Pronounce 0 as O (Oh):

1106 - Eleven O Six, 1509 - Fifteen O Nine

● The years that end with double 0:

1600 - Sixteen Hundred, 1300 - Thirteen Hundred

● The years that end with triple 0:

1000 - (Year) One Thousand, 2000 - (Year) Two Thousand

● The years between 2001 - 2009:

2001 - Twenty O One or Two Thousand one (This one is more common), 2008 - Twenty O Eight or Two Thousand Eight

● The years after 2009:

2010 - Twenty Ten or Two Thousand Ten, 2024 - Twenty Twenty Four or Two Thousand Twenty Four
 Repeat Sentence (RS)
RS is another tough question which contributes a substantial number of marks to speaking and listening.
During RS:

● There will be 10-12 questions of this type.

● You will hear a short sentence.
● Recording will begin after the clip but there will be no beep this time.
● Say the sentence just the way you heard it.
SCORING CRITERIA
You will be scored based on the following three factors:

1. Fluency: Fluency is the top priority is RS. Getting confused about what the words were or if the
words you are saying are correct or not can affect your fluency. So, it is better to just say whatever
you remember and think the speaker would have said without hesitation.

2. Content: Repeating the maximum number of words falls second in terms of priority. Omitting a few
words is not too big of a deal as long as you repeat over 50% of the words said by the speaker.
Imagining a scenario based on the words and phrases said by the speaker can help if you are good at
imagining stuff.

3. Pronunciation: Pronunciation must not be a problem as you hear the proper pronunciations of the
word in the audio. However, saying the words clearly enough for the AI to recognize them is
important.
 TIPS
● Try remembering the sentence in chunks.

● Note down the initials of the words said by the speaker. If the audio was short and easy, no need to
look at the initials, but if the sentence was long, refer to the initials to remember the words.

● Imagine a scenario based on the sentence said by the speaker to help you memorize the words.

● Always keep your cursor (mouse) on the next button at the beginning of the question and immediately
click on it after you finish speaking. Keeping unnecessary blank time can affect your fluency.
 DESCRIBE IMAGE (DI)
Describe image is the only type of question that contributes marks solely to speaking. Even though it is not
typically a difficult question, it can affect your score if not practiced enough. Most of the time the image will
have words, phrases, sentences and/or numbers. You are supposed to use those in your description.
During RA:

● There will be 3-4 questions of this type.

● You will be given an image and the countdown of 25 seconds will start.
● After the 25 seconds have passed, there will be a short beep denoting that the mic has turned on.
● The countdown for 40 seconds of speaking/recording time will start.
SCORING CRITERIA
You will be scored based on the following three factors:

1. Fluency: Fluency is the top priority is DI. Getting confused about what the words were or if the
words you are saying are correct or not can affect your fluency. So, it is better to just say whatever
you remember and think the speaker would have said without hesitation.

2. Content: Repeating the maximum number of words falls second in terms of priority. Omitting a few
words is not too big of a deal as long as you repeat over 50% of the words said by the speaker.
Imagining a scenario based on the words and phrases said by the speaker can help if you are good at
imagining stuff.

3. Pronunciation: Pronunciation must not be a problem as you hear the proper pronunciations of the
word in the audio. However, saying the words clearly enough for the AI to recognize them is
important.
TIPS:
● You can use a template here to maintain fluency and keep speaking.

● Use up to 12-15 words from the image. If there are more, there is no need to use the remaining ones.

● Do not repeat keywords.

● The longer you speak, the higher the chances of making a mistake.

● Keep your cursor on the next button and move on to the next question as soon as you finish your
answer.

● If there are no words in the image. Use the 25 seconds of preparation time and write down as many
words as you can from the image.
 TEMPLATE
The image mainly focuses on the subject of ______.
There are various other factors like ____, ____ and ____.
The image also tells us about ____, ____ and ____.
The image also tells us about ____, ____ and ____.
The image also tells us about ____, ____ and ____.
To conclude, the image is quite informative.

You can add one or two more of the “The image also tells us about....” sentence as per need. The template will
work as long as you are fluent. You can move on to the next question as soon as you are finished with the
template, there is no need to speak for the full forty seconds.
Example

The image (bar graph) mainly focuses on the subject of Australian Domestic Airline Passengers.
There are various other factors like growth over year to June quarter 2011.
The image also tells us about 6%, 4% and 2%.
The image also tells us about inter-capital, leisure and mining exposed.
To conclude, the image is quite informative.
Example

The image mainly focuses on the subject of seminar.

There are various other factors like presentation, chairs and white board.
The image also tells us about look at the image below.
The image also tells us about in 25 seconds, please speak into the microphone.
The image also tells us about describe in detail what the image is showing.
To conclude, the image is quite informative.
 RETELL LECTURE (RL)
Retell lecture is basically the same as DI. The main difference is that you will be summarizing an audio instead
of describing and image, but the scoring criteria are exactly the same.
During RL:

● You will hear a short lecture. (There may or may not be an image on the screen)
● You will be given 10 seconds to prepare after the audio
● There will be a beep denoting that the microphone has turned on.
● You will have 40 seconds to summarize the audio.
SCORING CRITERIA:
You will be scored based on the following three factors:

1. Fluency: As always, fluency is the most important part. But this time it might turn out to be much more
difficult to maintain fluency here as you have to make sentences of your own with the help of the information
given in the image. Luckily, you can use a template to ease your burden here.

2. Content: Content is another crucial factor contributing to your score. Try to incorporate as many words as you
can from the image, but you do not require too many of them. Using 12-15 of them is enough.

3. Pronunciation: Obviously, pronouncing the words properly is important in order for the AI to recognize your
words and consider them while scoring you.

As there is no image in this type of question to take keywords from, you will be taking keywords from the audio. (Even if
there is an image, ignore it) You can use any words that you like (nouns, adjectives, verbs, etc).
TIPS:

● You can use a template here to maintain fluency and keep speaking.

● Use up to 12-15 words from the audio. If there are more, there is no need to use the remaining ones.

● Do not repeat keywords.

● The longer you speak, the higher the chances of making a mistake.

● Keep your cursor on the next button and move on to the next question as soon as you finish your
answer.
TEMPLATE:
The audio mainly focused on the subject of ______.
There were various other factors like ____, ____ and ____.
The audio also told us about ____, ____ and ____.
The audio also told us about ____, ____ and ____.
The audio also told us about ____, ____ and ____.
To conclude, the audio was quite informative.

You can add one or two more of the “The audio also tells us about....” sentence as per need. The template will
work as long as you are fluent. You can move on to the next question as soon as you are finished with the
template, there is no need to speak for the full forty seconds.

While noting down the keywords, note them down like following for ease:
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10 11 12
 ANSWER SHORT QUESTION (ASQ)
ASQ is the easiest part of the entire speaking section. It is mainly based on everyday lives, IQ and sometime
general knowledge.
During ASQ:

● You will be asked a question.

● There will be no beep so you will need to pay attention to the screen to know if the microphone has
turned on. You will have 10 seconds to give your answer.
TIPS:

● Listen to the question carefully and try to understand it.

● If you know the answer, say the answer confidently and clearly once only. Do not repeat the answer.

● If you do not know the answer, just say “I don’t know”. Doing so will not grant you marks in
listening. However, you will be given marks in speaking.
PROCEED TO WRITING