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Some important PTE listening tips and tricks to score 90

Are you determined to study abroad but struggling to achieve good scores? Your English level indeed must be checked before applying for any visa. To test your English knowledge, you must take either of these exams like PTE, IELTS, etc. Today, we will discuss how you can ace your PTE exam through effective listening hacks.

Unlike IELTS, PTE Listening is considered the third module of the PTE exam. You would be surprised to know that a 10-minute break is given to all test-takers after their PTE Reading is done. This break time is adequate to refresh and calm your mind since the next exam section, i.e., PTE listening, tends to require total concentration.Below are some practical tips to level up your PTE listening scores.

Tips to follow to score 90 in PTE listening:

  • Active listening:

Active listening is a great skill, and only some have it. Don't worry! You can still learn this paramount knack by following some valuable methods. While preparing for your exam, you can watch some English movies without using subtitles or captions. This provokes you to concentrate on the listening part and understand what the speaker in the recording is addressing or telling you. You have to work on your concentration level as well since, in the exam, you won't get to listen to the clip twice, or once you skip any information, you will lose maximum scores.

Hence, practicing active listening through PTE listening mock tests or watching English channels without subtitles will help you improve.

  • Make Notes

In PTE listening, where you tend to listen to a continuous audio recording and write the answers simultaneously, you often lose scores because you need to remember the exact wordings of the speaker at the time of penning down all the answers to your answer sheet. It usually happens out of stress to score well. You can prepare some notes while listening to the clip to avoid it. You can also check your linguistic and writing skills by making short notes. And, because you get spare time to jot down all your answers, your chances of scoring maximum marks are higher using this intelligent strategy.

  • Time Management

Time management is imperative in the PTE exam, especially when listening tasks require listening and writing simultaneously. To score well in your exam, deciding the amount of time spent on each part of the listening section before heading on is a must. This ensures that you can save some time in revising your written answers. In addition, it will further maximize your chances of scoring well in the section.

  • Look at essential details.

Good listening skills often involve good observation skills too. You must be wise enough to observe each detail till the recording ends. Focussing on important keywords, nouns, tenses, and pronouns is essential to decipher the correct answer.

Ideally, such tips are essential to consider before appearing for your exam. These tips will help you avoid wasting time re-appearing for the exam to get the desired score.


PTE listening test consists of the following sections:
  • Written Summary Section

The lengthiest module of all is the summary section, where you have to summarise in about 50-70 words after listening to a 1-1.5 minute audio clip. The maximum time allotted to you is 10 minutes. You must target the critical points addressed in the clip during this period. Also, your written information must be grammatically correct and involves no spelling errors. Hence, by using proper use of grammar, tone, vocabulary, and knowledge provided, you can expect to score maximum marks.

  • MCQs Section
In this section, you will see several multiple-choice questions you need to answer by selecting more than one answer. To answer the given MCQs, you must listen to the audio clips, which are about 40 to 90 seconds long. Remember, you can only listen to the audio once, so stay fully concentrated. The given questions are likely based either on the content or audio tone.
  • Gap filling Section
Like IELTS listening, you must listen attentively to the audio recording and jot down the answers in the given transcripts on-screen. The empty spaces are provided in the transcripts, which you must fill by choosing the exact words described in the audio clip. Bear in mind the length of the audio clip ranges between 30 to 60 seconds. Therefore, you can prepare some notes at the same time while listening to the audio to avoid last-minute confusion.
  • Highlight Correct Summary   
Under this section, test-takers will listen to an audio clip and choose the most appropriate summary from various options. This is one of the significant ways to check your skills, like listening and reading skills. It requires particular focus by which you can identify the critical information and audio theme. Hence, you can then match it with the given options. Moreover, the Total number of questions will be 2-3, and there will be no negative marking

  • Select Missing Words
One of the most exciting parts of PTE listening is "Selecting missing words," where you will hear an audio clip of about 20 to 70 seconds, and the last words of the clip will be replaced with a beep sound. Then, you have to see the number of options as (MCQs) and choose the one that matches the overall context of the sentence and makes it meaningful. Make sure that the option selected must be grammatically correct.
  • Choose Incorrect Words Section
To err is human. Yes, that's right. Humans tend to make mistakes, but surprisingly, in this section, you will choose the errors and highlight them. Under this section, you will be given an audio clip and transcript where you will read the transcript and hear the audio simultaneously. It is about selecting words that don't match the speaker's comments in the clip. Once selected, that word will turn yellow. You can deselect it whenever you want since it has a negative marking. So, for the proper selection, you will attain 1 point, and for the wrong one, you will lose one mark. Hence, to avoid negative marking, You must only click when you are fully confident.
  • Write from Dictation
Test-takers are informed to listen to short audio texts between 3-5 seconds. These audio texts are usually the words you must write in the text boxes. The only challenging point is to write the correct spelling.
After going through these sections, you can analyze that grammar, focus, tone, and vocabulary play a massive role in making you score excellent marks. So, before appearing for your exam, focus on this short mantra to get your exam ready. Practice, Practice, Practice….

Conclusion

In the end, we have walked you through the most accurate and imperative guidelines to make you prepare for your PTE exam. You can apply these essential fundamentals while practicing your mock tests. You will see the apparent difference in your level of English after practicing at least three PTE listening mock tests. You may contact Dr. Roma without hesitation if you are interested in further details about the PTE exam. She is a recognized IELTS trainer nationwide who can get you exam ready in no more than a month.

Dr.Roma

Content Writer