Write from dictation will test your ability to listen and write at the same time. This article aims to assist you, not only for the PTE test but also in your everyday life (as a student or for certain jobs).
Write from dictation consists of writing down the sentence told by the recorder.
What are some of the main obstacles to overcome ?
- Being able to remember and type in long sentences. You may forget a word or two.
- Maintaining focus till the end. Your emotions may force you to stop listening by fear of forgetting the beginning of the sentence.
- Knowing how to spell each word correctly.
- Misunderstanding and writing the wrong word.
- Being able to recognise how words are pronounced in various accents.
Are you one of those who believe that you don’t need to follow a method ?
Here is why your judgement might be wrong:
Most people think they have a good memory. In fact, we retain the elements interesting to us and forget most of what happens.
A German psychologist researched the phenomenon and established what we call the “forgetting curve”. Even though it was published at the very end of the 19th century, it is still considered as a reference, which we can rely on. He researched the memory of students, who are used to retain information all day and all year long. In the end, even a trained mind loses most of the data in the first 18 minutes (up to 45% of loss) if there is not a study system based on repetition.
This last part does not concern us here since you can forget the dictated sentence as soon as you correctly write it down. The important part to remember is that repetition is key and that’s what we should focus on for this type of exercice.
In Write Dictation, the main difficulty to remember long sentences comes from the diversity of the subjects, which won’t always trigger your natural momentary memory and your concentration. For better performances, follow our step by step guide.
1. Improve the way you take notes
After reading and watching numerous studies about note-taking methods, which all sounded quite complicated, long to learn and not adapted to PTE’s Write from dictation. We came up with a method that should help you jump start your brain and help you memorise more words with the least efforts.
If you are a student, you probably have your own habits. In your case, you must already use abbreviations for most words. But if English is not your native language, our approach may fit you as well.
For the non-student or non-professional note takers, I recommend choosing simplicity. But even there you need to plan and train in advance. You need abbreviations of your own. You cannot think of every term. This is why I advise you to:
- note the first three letters of each word you hear, regarding the ones you know. For the ones you don’t know, I’d rather have you write them down phonetically.
The idea here consists of writing just enough to jump-start your memory to type the right sentence.
You can also abbreviate the words that you can expect to hear because of their recurrence. Let’s look at 3 basic examples :
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The word with, can become w.
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The sound tion at the end of many words could be 0
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Can may take the shape of a can, hence just a square quickly drawn.
You should also make sure to write as clearly as possible to not waste time trying to decrypt your handwriting.
2. Take notes like there is no tomorrow
- Have your pen and note-board ready before the recording starts. You only get 7 seconds here.
- Do not fall behind the audio. If it happens, do not panic, and be logical. It could sound strange, but you may guess the right ending. Remember you do not have anything to lose here!
- Writing down notes enables you to make a first spell and sense check while typing them in the PTE program. Still read again after yourself.
3. A well treated brain is more efficient
In moments of cramming sessions, you are going to be tempted by coffees or energy drinks, and sometimes both because you feel it boosts your capacity.
You believe the longer you stay awake the most you will be able to study. You are motivated, which is half of the job already.
But you need to take care of your mind so you can focus and access the data you studied. How awesome would that be not to work for nothing?
Your brain is a complex organ, which requires :
- sleep
- relaxing moments, whereas exciting drinks end up stressing it and pushing it even when it is not necessary, whether you realise it or not.
- a proper and regular training, avoid to overload it.
- a sufficient intake of adapted nutrients, such as carbs, fat, and proteins to make it resilient. Furthermore, hunger can become very distracting.
4. Improve your spelling
- Read a lot. Order your favorite book in your native language in English.
- Program alerts to entice you to read the news.
- I advise writing about your day every afternoon when you get home. It may take a bit of time at first, but not more them 10 to 15 minutes in the end.
- You need proper training adapted to this format of exercise.
5. My last everyday advice: Your listening
Contrary to popular belief, watching videos do not represent the best tools to enhance your listening skills.
Most of what you understand can be inferred from visual situations.
Hence, listen to podcasts about topics you love, with various participants, while you drink your morning tea or coffee, or during your dinner.
You will feel naturally involved and compelled to understand thoroughly.
Since you are planning to come to Australia, a good option could be to learn about the country and the town you will live in!
When I reached a reasonable level, I remember challenging myself by listening to very specialised podcasts.
I was also trying to understand the lyrics of my favorite songs, which resulted in quite a disappointing experience since they were not as inspired as I imagined.
It remained an asserting exercise to improve my auditive skills.
What are your favorite subjects to learn and listen about? Find your favorite shows, you won’t be able to spend a day without it even after the PTE.
This is how you know you will fit well in an English speaking country.
Do not misunderstand my last tip, you will need some academical training to pass your Listening PTE.
