How to Prepare for the PTE Academic in 4 Weeks- Study Plan

Here is a question you might want to ask yourself: is it possible to study for the PTE online in just 4 weeks?

And here is an answer you might want to hear: YES.

It is, in fact, entirely possible to fit enough PTE study and preparation material within 4 weeks to get you the mark you’ve always wanted. Now, it’s just a simple matter of breakdown how to go about doing it.

It won’t be easy, but most good things rarely are. It will require some time and dedication on your part, but you’re almost certain to earn that coveted mark if you closely follow this guideline.

Understand the PTE Test

First things first. You must understand the PTE: what it is, how it works, and what you’ll need to do.

The one main thing you need to know is that you will be doing the PTE online. The test is done solely by way of your computer, which is one of the main differences with a test like IELTS Vs. PTE. Whereas the former is akin to a typical test that’s done in a classroom with paper and pencil, the latter can only be completed online.

Another important thing to note regarding the PTE test is the overall structure of the exam. The test is split up into three distinct components: speaking & writing, reading and listening. Each part will include a variety of timed tasks and questions for you to complete.

Speaking & Writing

Personal introduction
Read aloud
Repeat Sentence
Describe Image
Re-tell lecture
Answer short question
Summarize written text
Essay

Reading

Fill in the blanks
Multiple choice
Re-order paragraphs

Listening

Summarize spoken text
Multiple choice
Fill in the blanks
Highlight the correct summary
Select missing word
Highlight incorrect words
Write from dictation

Knowing what the test looks like will give you the confidence and peace of mind to move forward with your PTE study regimen. You don’t have to worry about any curveballs coming your way, now it’s just a matter of preparing for what you already know is coming.

Have Preparation Material for Each Component of the PTE Test

Now that you have a more thorough understanding of what’s awaiting you, it’s time to look at strategies and materials that will help you get prepared for each distinct component of the test.

Speaking

Speaking is the first part of the test and it will include tasks like introducing yourself, reading aloud, describing images, and repeating what you heard in a lecture that was given. Luckily, there are several English-speaking strategies for you to incorporate.

The main focus points here should be remaining calm, enunciating, pronouncing words properly, and, of course, knowing what to say. If you can learn to master each of these, you should have no problem mastering this particular part of the PTE online.

Firstly, remaining calm will come with confidence, and confidence can only be earned by knowing that you are prepared.

As far as the rest goes, you will want to focus on performing the tasks you will be asked to do come exam time. Meaning that you should:

Prepare an introduction for yourself and recite it
Practice reading a variety of texts aloud
Repeat sentences you hear
Describe images in detail
Practice summarizing points made by other people

Writing

Writing is another nerve-racking aspect of the PTE online. You will be forced to do things like summarize a written text, answer a short question, and even write an essay.

One major way to begin practicing for this is to begin incorporating PTE tutorials in writing. These will provide you with writing prompts closely resembling the kinds of questions you might see on the test. Try to do a few of these per weeks to get a feel for writing in English.

Other worthwhile techniques include taking lots of notes, journaling, and even corresponding via text with any of your English-speaking friends or colleagues.

Reading

Reading is certainly a tough one, but it is not something you will need to go out of your way to accomplish. You are reading right now, are you not? How much of this text do you understand? If you have been able to understand most of it, you are doing great!

Now it is just a matter of continuing that momentum and practicing consistently. Take notes while you read, highlight important parts, try to pinpoint what is being said, and break down what it all means.

But do not just keep reading articles like this — branch out to other materials. Start reading short stories, books, news, and transcribed talks or speeches. All of it will help you practice reading.

Listening

Listening is the final component of the test and may serve to be one of the hardest. That is because the questions are mostly multiple-choice, and unless you have got a very thorough understanding of what was said, many of the answers might look the same.

You must comprehend the materials contained within the listening exercises of the PTE test.

To do that, you will need to begin incorporating listening exercises into your daily life. Doing something as simple as listening to a podcast or even an informative YouTube video (without the visuals), will get you into the habit of hearing and understanding English.

Couple these exercises with some quick note-taking, and you will begin to unravel the methods of proper listening techniques.

Schedule Your Time Wisely

A thorough and well-planned schedule is the only way for you to manage this workload. There is a lot of material that you will need to cover in the coming 4 weeks, and you must have a plan for how you will get to it all.

One good strategy is to split the workload up into days. Seeing as how there are 4 areas of knowledge that you need to attend to, you might want to dedicate 1 day of the week to each. From there you can dedicate a separate day to studying a little bit of everything, and you are still left with two extra days for rest.

Your schedule may look something like this:

Monday (Speaking)
Tuesday (Writing)
Wednesday (Rest)
Thursday (Reading)
Friday (Listening)
Saturday (Rest)
Sunday (A little bit of everything)

Of course, you are more than welcome to tweak this to your exact specifications. Who knows, you may want weekends all to yourself, or you may have a job that requires a completely different arrangement.

The important thing is that you figure out what works for you, plan the schedule and, ultimately, stick to that schedule. Do not let yourself get distracted or lose sight of what is at stake — always keep your eyes on the prize.

Conclusion

Hopefully, this handy little guide has given you a better idea of what you will need to do to prepare yourself for the PTE test in 4 weeks. Although it might not seem like a lot of time, 4 weeks can feel like an eternity of preparation if you schedule your time properly and dedicate your efforts towards the proper channels.

There’s no limit to what you can do if you effectively apply yourself.

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