The goal of this blog post is to help you avoid any unpleasant surprise when you take the PTE Test. In this article, you will learn the things you should expect during Summarise Text and all its requirement in details.
1. What is so complicated at first with summarising a spoken text?
This exam combines listening, as well as writing skills. You will be asked to :
- instantly understand a high-level lecture.
- precisely write all the main ideas you just heard in a short text (50–70 words).
Your main objective on this one is to aim at remaining very focused all along the listening part and writing as concisely as possible in well-spoken English.
Hence, you need to be clear-minded. No surprises should undermine your confidence, nor your concentration !
2. What should you expect on the exam Day ?
- to listen a recording that lasts for 1 minute or so.
- to write a summary of it in 50 to 70 words. Several sentences are allowed.
- 10 minutes max to complete.
- a mock test will contain two to three of these exercises.
3. Important tips to get you on top
- Before doing anything, breath and focus.
- Grab a pen and a note pad, which will be given to you. Try to ask for a second pencil, just to be safe!
- Now that you are focused and ready to take notes, you can finally begin to listen to the lecture. Give it your best attention until the end. Do not presume you have heard enough to know what they are talking about, since some new important ideas may occur in the last part of the audio. Be careful it may change the global understanding of the spoken text.
- Your notes are critical. Keep them organised and in a nice hand-writing. Why? You will barely have time to look at them while typing the final answer.
- Last, but not least, try to manage your time as follows:
-10 seconds to focus
-8 minutes to write your answer
-1 minute or so to check your spelling and grammar
-The remaining seconds should represent a security margin.
4. Everything you need to know to reach the highest score
Each summary is on a 10 mark scale, where each skill is on 2. It does not seem like a high score, which means you are not allowed many mistakes.
What are these skills?
1. Form
Let’s begin with the simplest, which is the form. Two points are given if you respect the instruction to write between 50 and 70 words.
If you cannot fulfil this requirement, meaning that you have written under 40 or above 100 words, you won’t get any point.
2. Content
The content implies to understand and clearly expose the primary topics of the audio. At the end of your summary, you need to ask yourself two questions:
- did I mention all the lecturer’s main points?
- did I manage to transmit the right interpretation?
This is where the importance of taking good notes make sense.
WARNING: Do not misrepresent the meaning of the speaker and its purpose otherwise you will lose the 10 marks ! Try to catch the main keywords.
3. English assessment : Accounts for the remaining 6 marks
The last 6 points are attributed to the English Language. Do not place yourself in a tight spot.
Remember that you are the one choosing what you write.
Try to keep it simple to avoid unnecessary mistakes and to the point.
You will get two marks if your grammar is spotless. Don’t worry! You just need to respect the basic structure of a sentence, using the appropriate verbs at the proper time.
If you are unsure about one sentence, don’t get stuck on it and find a new way to express it.
There is always another manner to enunciate your thoughts.
If you know when to place the subject, verb, complement, and auxiliary when needed, you are golden!
The next two marks are given for your spelling.
Most speaking English countries conventions are accepted, such as Canadian, Australian, American and of course, British.
Although you should know that when you pick one, you should remain consistent with it.
To give you a proper example:
you should use the word neighbor (US) instead of neighbour (British) if you are about to refer to a theatre instead of a theater.
The last two marks are for your vocabulary. You need to know synonyms for common words. Prepare yourself a list, which you review as often as possible during the week, when you commute for instance.
The vocabulary you use needs to be absolutely relevant to the spoken content’s subject.
An excellent way to collect points is by using linking words:
- such as
- or
- but
- and
- also
- whereas
- despite/in spite of
- however
- finally…
This being said, be careful here to not lose the central meaning of the speech or to try to make it too elaborate, ending up not speaking proper English.
Some helpers to get you started
- The lecturer was debating/discussing….
- The speaker explained… and mentioned that…
- The journalist to the interviewer asked about/ talked about
Need help with linking words ? We have a series of two articles on the topic
