To most second language learners, getting on with spoken and written sentences is a struggle. Using a language we learn outside of our own home has its quirks. We are caught up between what we are taught at school and what we learn on our own through exposure to friends, social media, music, and real …
First: A few days ago a piece of news caused a stir in the Philippine academic community. An OECD report (https://www.oecd.org/) showed the results of a reading comprehension test given to a number of countries, including the Philippines. What got the debate going was the rather dismal performance of the Philippines in the said test, …
SECRETS OF LEARNING NEW LANGUAGES: NOTES FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE Read More »
Why are you writing an essay and for what? I tell a student that unlike writing for IELTS, PTE has two writing test types: summarizing information and essay. Let me discuss these as well as the different strategies to do them to your advantage. For summarizing written text, a PTE test-taker faces three challenges: …
If you want to demonstrate your English proficiency, why sit through a reading test? What does one stand to gain in proving his or her mastery of decoding meaning in a paragraph? There seems to be a presumption of intelligence if one is able to read well—and by well we mean read sharply. The notion …
Sometime ago I had a student from Brazil. The thought of teaching someone who lived in that part the world excited me. I had never met a Brazilian person all my life until then; although I’m a big fan of Joao Gilberto and bossa nova. I knew little of Brazilian Portuguese (I still do) and …
CURIOUS CASE OF TEACHING SPOKEN ENGLISH TO A PORTUGUESE SPEAKER Read More »
In Read Aloud, you should make sure you don’t leave out words nor add new ones. You need to know where to pause as well: And by this I mean pausing at clauses, verb phrases, and key words for emphasis. If you speak in a low voice (while others speak like a rock star), you …
Bridgit sounds and reads like a portmanteau of Bridge Australia. But more than that, Bridgit is the official mascot of Bridge Australia Migration Consultancy. In a short time after Bridgit was conceived, she has gone places. She has gone to Iloilo City, Philippines to welcome and regale Bridge Australia’s guests at its Education and Migration …
For summarizing written text, a PTE test taker faces three challenges: writing a compound-complex sentence to be able to meet the one-sentence criterion; using appropriate punctuation marks; beating the summary word requirement of 50-70 words. Here are sample summaries that illustrate these errors: To increase production manufacturing companies use Just-in-Time method that inables less time …
It’s been a wrap for BridgeAustralia’s migration and education expo in Iloilo last May 18, 2019. It was an event that initially had everyone on the team in doubt. With barely six months to prepare and a whole lot of things to do on the ground, the results far exceeded everyone’s expectation. The guests, local …
Student X had previously taken an English language proficiency test but fell short of his target score. So he has no choice but to take it again—if he wants to become a permanent Australian citizen. But this time he chose to take the PTE. And he reviewed with us. First Mock Test Result Student …
CORRELATION BETWEEN MOCK TEST AND ACTUAL PTE SCORES Read More »