Taking the PTE means completing several different sections and question types. One of those is the retell lecture section, which requires you to listen to a short lecture and then summarize it into your own words. You may be wondering just how to make sure you’re doing what you need to while studying for this section of the exam. We’re going to take a closer look.
What You Need to Do
When it comes to the retell lecture section of the PTE you will need to listen to a lecture of up to 90 seconds. This lecture will only be recited once, by recording. That means you need to be paying close attention when it starts so that you don’t miss any of the important information.
You then need to record your own summary of the lecture, where you explain the most important pieces of information that were discussed in approximately 30 seconds or less. In order to do this you need to have a clear idea of what you’re going to say before you start. That can be done by following these tips.
- Be prepared from the moment you sit down. As soon as you sit down for this section of the exam make sure you are prepared. You may not have a lot of time before the recording begins and you must start listening to the lecture. You want to hear every part of it, including the beginning.
- Know what you’re listening for. You may want to make a list or draw out bullet points for five things that you want to mention in your summary. That means you write out the numbers 1-5 on a piece of paper and as you hear a point you want to talk about, write it down.
- Take notes. You are allowed to take notes during the lecture. Make sure you make the most of that opportunity. Taking notes will help you organize your thoughts before it’s time to give your own summary. It also makes sure you don’t forget anything.
- Keep it simple. You don’t want to take such complicated notes that you can’t summarize everything in the time allowed. Instead, write down only the main point of what the lecture says. Remember, you need at least five specific things that were talked about, but you don’t need to repeat everything word from the lecture.
- Organize your thoughts. Once the lecture recording stops you’ll get approximately 10 seconds before you have to start talking and recording your summary. This is when you want to organize your thoughts and decide what you’re going to say. You need to think about how you’re going to present the information.
- Speak clearly. Remember, you’re being scored on how well you speak in several different ways. First, you’re being scored on your fluency. How much do you sound like a native speaker with your inflection? You’ll also be scored on how easy it is to understand you. Your volume, speed and use of filler words are important for this part of your score.
PTE Retell Lecture Template
If you’re not sure just what to say or how to organize your thoughts for the retell portion, fill in this template while you’re listening to the lecture. Then, summarize the information on your template when it’s time to record your own thoughts.
- Overall Topic: What is the whole lecture about? You should have a general topic that you can state first.
- Point One: What’s the first main point that the speaker made?
- Point Two: What’s the second main point that the speaker made?
- Point Three: What’s the third main point that the speaker made?
- Point Four: What’s the fourth main point that the speaker made?
- Point Five: What’s the fifth main point that the speaker made?
When you fill in this template you’ll have all of the information that you need to give a complete summary of the lecture. That means you’ll be better prepared to get the score you want on the PTE speaking retell lecture.
Be Prepared
The most important thing is that you want to make sure you are prepared walking into the PTE speaking retell lecture. If you are then you’ll do fine. If you’re not, you may have trouble hearing and repeating all of the important information that you need.
