Pronunciation is a big factor for the PTE Academic software!

So big, in fact that we count it as one of the 7 main scoring parameters that the PTE software cares about.

If you speak in a way that most native speakers can understand, then your pronunciation is OK.

If, however you speak in a way that people have to ask you to repeat or they are unable to understand what you said, then you have problems with the pronunciation.

I am going to tell you why pronunciation is a big deal and can have a huge impact on your speaking score.

Then I am going to tell you how you can fix your pronunciation problems.

First, why this is a big deal:

Let’s say your overall English speaking is good.

But the only mistake you make is with the “s” sound in words such as speaking.

Now it is only one issue, right?

But the “s” sound appears so many times in various sentences.

The computer will count each as one mistake.

This is why people see such low scores in pronunciation.

It can be a big problem!

But it can also be taken care of fairly easily.

What is the best way to improve your pronunciation?

You need to do three things:

First:

Record yourself and listen and compare your recording with an authentic sample recording!

Second:

Pick up the word list and record how you speak each word.

Put it in a sentence.

Record the sentence.

Then go to a software like Google Text to Speech and see how that sentence sounds.

Notice the difference.

That is the only sure shot way to improve.

The third thing you can do is:

Simply speak a lot – after native speakers.

Watch YouTube educational videos, podcasts, sites like Ted.com and follow after the native speakers.

Repeat after them again and again.

Over a period of time, the correct pronunciation, the correct way to speak will get into your subconscious.

You don’t need months to achieve this for the sake of PTE Academic.

If speaking is a big problem for you, if it has cost you your score before, then you can spend 1~2 hours every day before the exam.

Please make sure you practice every single day.

Correct pronunciation is about habit.

If you don’t practice pronunciation every day, you will not get into the habit.

Don’t think you can spend 5 hours on one day and it will be alright.

No! You must spend some time every single day.

As a practice now, I will give you 3 speaking passages.

I will speak, and you have to speak after me, slowly.

Then speak it yourself and Record it.

Then come back and compare with how I spoke.

You can pause and play from there after you finish the recording.

Here’s the first passage:

By annual ridership, the New York City Subway is the busiest rapid transit rail system in both the Western Hemisphere and the Western world, as well as the seventh busiest rapid transit rail system in the world; only the metro systems in Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Tokyo, Guangzhou, and Moscow record higher annual ridership.

…

In 2021, the subway delivered over 1.76 billion rides, averaging approximately 5.7 million daily rides on weekdays and a combined 5.9 million rides each weekend. Ridership continues to increase, and on September 23, 2021, more than 6.1 million people rode the subway system, establishing the highest single-day ridership since ridership was regularly monitored in 1985.

…

In 2021, the subway delivered over 1.76 billion rides, averaging approximately 5.7 million daily rides on weekdays and a combined 5.9 million rides each weekend. Ridership continues to increase, and on September 23, 2021, more than 6.1 million people rode the subway system, establishing the highest single-day ridership since ridership was regularly monitored in 1985.

…

Many lines and stations have both express and local services. These lines have three or four tracks. Normally, the outer two are used for local trains, while the inner one or two are used for express trains. Stations served by express trains are typically major transfer points or destinations.

…

Let’s go to the second passage:

The cinema of Hong Kong is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China, and the cinema of Taiwan.

…

As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of political and economic freedom than mainland China and Taiwan, and developed into a filmmaking hub for the Chinese-speaking world.

…

For decades, Hong Kong was the third largest motion picture industry in the world after Indian cinema and Hollywood and the second largest exporter.

…

Despite an industry crisis starting in the mid-1990s and Hong Kong’s return to Chinese sovereignty in July 1997, Hong Kong film has retained much of its distinctive identity and continues to play a prominent part on the world cinema stage.

…

Here’s the third and final passage:

A roller coaster inversion is a roller coaster element in which the track turns riders upside-down and then returns them to an upright position.

…

Early forms of inversions, dating as far back as 1848 on the Centrifugal Railway in Paris, were vertical loops that were circular in nature.

…

They produced massive g-force that was often dangerous to riders, and as a result, the element eventually became non-existent with the last rides to feature the looping inversions being dismantled during the Great Depression.

…

In 1975, designers from Arrow Development created the corkscrew, reviving interest in the inversion during the modern age of steel roller coasters.

…

Featuring fourteen inversions, The Smiler at Alton Towers holds the world record for the number of inversions on a roller coaster

…

Now you have experienced the best way to solve your speaking problems and get a high score quickly.

But you must get more practice.

Like I said, you can do the same with educational youtube videos, or on websites like ted.com.

This is one of the harder parts of PTE, but if you put in a few days effort, you will see good results.

Before we finish, let me recap the main points for you:

Use a software like Google Speech to Text to see how good your spoken responses are.

Spend some time everyday listening to English audios on YouTube or a website like Ted.com.

Speak after them.

Mimic the native speakers.

Identify the common pronunciation mistakes that you make.

Once you have done 10~20 recordings and checked it on Google Speech to Text, you will start to understand the kind of words you mispronounce.

Notice the pattern in those words and then practice speaking them correctly.

Go through the word list and learn the correct pronunciation of each word in the word list, by itself and also by putting it in a few sentences.

That’s the end of this video.

I will see you in the fourth video of the Learning system

1. Follow three strategies for improving your pronunciation.
2. First – record yourself and compare it with sample recordings.
3. Second – practice word list and the correct pronunciation of each word.
4. Third – Mimic native speakers.
5. Get daily practice – spend couple of hours every day if needed.
6. For recordings use Google Speech to Text – https://cloud.google.com/speech-to-text/ Please note that while this gives you some idea of your speaking capability, this doesn’t tell how good your accent is or if your pronunciation is exactly perfect. So, use this along with other methods.
7. For speaking after native speakers look for educational and social sciences themed videos on YouTube or sites such as Ted.com.