Effective PTE Academic Note-taking strategy

The Pearson Test of English allows test-takers to take notes during their PTE Academic exams, whether it’s test centres or online versions. 

In the PTE Academic Test Centre version, we have a notebook (notepad) and a marker, while the PTE Academic Online (at home) offers us an online note feature to do so. It doesn’t matter what equipment we use to take notes, the note-taking method does. 

In this article, we will be exploring how to take notes effectively while Reading and Listening generally, which is specifically developed to deal with PTE question types. Please remember that strategies here are general for all PTE question types, and students need to read this first before diving into specific note-taking tips for each question type that you can find in this Blog Category: Tips and Strategies.

Strategies to take notes while Reading

This method applies to all PTE Part 2 questions, Part 1: Summarize Written Text, Part 1: Write Essay, and Part 1: Describe Image (we look at an image as reading and then speak).

Admittedly, there are many methods to take notes. To name a few, we have to Take notes from memory, Highlight the text, Utilise applications, or Create graphics. Students can apply these methods not only to take the Pearson Test of English but also for their Academic learning and work. Nonetheless, if we sit for the PTE, Taking notes from memory is the only way we can do it. Therefore, we will only focus on sharing this method in this article. 

Test-takers frequently miss the opportunity to digest information from texts, for example when they work on Summarize Written Text or Multiple Choice, which have the largest number of words. The reason is that they are concerned too much about taking good notes instead of understanding key points from the text, which costs them lots of time and increases their levels of worry. 

Taking notes from memory means test-takers read the whole question pause a bit to comprehend it, and then take notes from their memories. Test-takers need to write down all key important points that they remember and understand. By doing so, it makes sure that test-takers are able to comprehend the text, and will be able to do tasks related to their comprehension of the paragraph. However, the questions that we need to take notes on the most are Part 1: Summarize Written Text, Part 2: Multiple Choice, Multiple Answer, and Part 2: Multiple Choice, Single Answer, which have text up to 300 words, which are lots of words to abundant students. Hence, we should divide it into two reading parts for taking notes.

Tips and Strategies

The below strategy is designed step-by-step to help students take notes more easily. Please read it carefully and apply it to practice for the following sample question.

• Step 1: Read half of the paragraph, and pause a bit to understand it. NEVER read the whole text at one time because the words are so many making it harder to take notes.
• Step 2: Take notes on all key points that you remember, DO NOT take notes while reading. Once you are done, get back to Step 1 and read the other half
• Step 3: Read the text again to check your key points if time is available. If we still have time, we utilise it to review our notes one more time to ensure we don't miss any key points.

Again, it's a general Note-taking strategy for all Reading question types in the PTE Academic. Our Academic team will be sharing detailed Tips and Time management strategies for each question type, so PTE takers know particularly how many minutes should they spend on the Note-taking part. 

PTE Sample Question

Here is our sample Question number 5, Part 1: Summarize Written Text on the PTE Practice Platform. 

New observations of mud cracks made by the Curiosity rover show that high-frequency, wet-dry cycling occurred in early Martian surface environments, indicating that the red planet may have once seen seasonal weather patterns or even flash floods. The research was published today in Nature. "These exciting observations of mature mud cracks are allowing us to fill in some of the missing history of water on Mars. How did Mars go from a warm, wet planet to the cold, dry place we know today? These mud cracks show us that transitional time when liquid water was less abundant but still active on the Martian surface," said Nina Lanza, principal investigator of the ChemCam instrument onboard the Curiosity rover. "These features also point to the existence of wet-dry environments that on Earth are extremely conducive to the development of organic molecules and potentially life. Taken as a whole, these results are giving us a clearer picture of Mars as a habitable world." The presence of long-term wet environments, such as evidence of ancient lakes on Mars, is well-documented, but far less is known about short-term climate fluctuations. After years of exploring terrain largely composed of silicates, the rover entered a new area filled with sulfates, marking a major environment transition. In this new environment, the research team found a change in mud crack patterns, signifying a change in the way the surface would have dried. This indicates that water was still present on the surface of Mars episodically, meaning water could have been present for a time, evaporated, and repeated until polygons, or mud cracks, formed.

If you have done all three above steps, let’s check the key points that we take note of here.

• The observation of mud cracks on Mars helps researchers found something really intriguing; 
• Mars could be wet and full of life in the past through research published in Nature;
• Researchers sum up that they had a clearer picture of lives on Mars thanks to the long-term wet environments;
• A change in mud crack patterns that they found in the new environment, which shows that water was once present for a time, and repeatedly evaporated until mud cracks formed.

Those points are raw materials that we need to link together to create a logical and coherent summary. 

Do you understand the above text 100%? It’s so great! If you don’t, it’s okay because the Pearson Test of English is pretty challenging, and test-takers should not expect to understand all questions 100%. To achieve specific PTE desired scores, it requires a certain general English level and practicing on the PTE Practice Platform. Thus, students need to advance their general English skills day after day aside from taking notes effectively. The higher your English skill is, the more knowledge and vocabulary you have, and the easier you can take notes. 

Here are our strategies to help you upgrade your general English skills, including Listening, Reading, Speaking, and Writing.

Strategies to take notes while Listening

This strategy applies to take notes when test-takers face Part 1: Repeat Sentence, Part 1: Re-tell Lecture, and almost all question types in Part 3 except Highlight Incorrect Words and Write from Dictation.

To most students, taking notes while Listening is much harder than Reading because, in the PTE Academic, test-takers are only able to listen to all questions once. Some questions are easier to take notes than others, for instance, taking notes while facing Part 1: Repeat Sentence and Part 3: Fill in the Blanks is easier than other question types. For details, we will be sharing Detailed Strategies for each item type later, including Note-taking tips for that question type.  

It's completely different from taking notes while Reading that we take notes from our memory. In Listening questions, we cannot do that because if we focus only on listening, it will be almost impossible to recall our memory. Except you excel at English and have a great memory; otherwise, it will be a nightmare. As a result, we need to listen to the audio and take notes at the same time.  

So, how should we take notes? 

We focus on key points. 

In all texts, there are always key points talking about the topic of the text. We need to write down as many key points as possible in order to generate the topic later. Never think of the topic when the audio is still playing because until it’s finished, we do not have enough information to come up with the most accurate topic. 

Tips and Strategies

But how do we do that? Here are some tips to make it effective. 

• Write phrases exactly what you hear: Yes, you heard that, lots of articles advise you to write in your own words, but you just cannot because time’s very limited, and our skills are not that good to brainstorm on how to paragraph what we just heard and write them down. Go experience yourself and you will see! But why should we write in our own words immediately after listening because we can do it later? Just write exactly what you hear, and we will paraphrase everything later when we answer the question. Another crucial note, test-takers should only take notes on phrases but not single words as single words do not indicate any kind of meaning, they are nothing if not connecting with others. 
• Pay attention to pauses and linking words: Pauses in speaking are equal to punctuation in writing. If the speakers pause shortly, it could be a comma “ , “. If the speakers pause longer, it could be a full stop “ . “.
• Take notes on places, timelines, and famous names if any: In some texts, there are no places, timelines, or famous names, but some others do. If the text has those things, make sure to take note of them because, most of the time, we need to add them to our answers for a more detailed and accurate one. 
• Write short forms, acronyms, or contractions if you can: ASAP is an acronym of as soon as possible, eg is a short form of for example, and Dr is a contraction of Doctor. So write these short forms or acronyms to help you save time. 
• Practice typing faster: Apparently, we need to take notes while listening, which doesn’t wait for us to write everything, and we cannot listen again either. Thus, practising your typing skills is genuinely crucial to writing at the normal speed of speaking.  

PTE sample question

Let’s try out this example, Question number 5, Part 3: Summarize Spoken Text

Click this link to listen. 

We strongly recommend you stop here for a while and listen to our sample question, apply the above tips to practice taking notes and come back to check our notes for your preference later. 

Here are our notes:

• Monitoring progress, and looking back as a way to move forward
• Did a survey of ppl standing in a line in an amusing park, people look back to see how far they come
• At uni of Chicago, stu look back at the materials they have covered, their motivation increases
• We’re motivated at the beginning, over time, motivation declines
• To the extent that we have a clear endpoint, of graduating with a diploma, motivation will pick up again

You see! We tried to write as many short forms and contractions as possible to save time. Besides, we also wrote exactly (not 100% of course) the same as what we heard (you could check the below description) because there’s no way we can paragraph at the same time. Yes, there is one person's name, but it was hard to hear clearly so we passed it. Do not write if you are not sure about the spelling. After taking notes on all possible key points we could do, it’s time to connect them together by using linking words and make sure to write the answers in your own words from your notes.

The description is here:

When monitoring progress, looking back is often the way to move forward. For any goal, you can look back at what you have achieved, as well as forward at what is still left to do. When Minjung Koo and I surveyed people standing in a long line for an amusement park ride in South Korea, we found that when they looked back and saw how far they'd come, they were more motivated to wait. Back at the University of Chicago, when uncommitted students look back at the materials that they have already covered for a final exam, their motivation to keep studying increases. Beware of long middles. We call it the middle problem. We are highly motivated at the beginning, we want to reach our goal and we want to do it right. Over time, our motivation declines as we lose steam. To the extent that our goal has a clear endpoint, as in the case of graduating with a diploma, our motivation will pick up again toward the end.

What should we use to take notes?

If test-takers sit for the PTE Academic at the test centre, they should use a notebook and a marker to take notes to simulate the test. But if they take the PTE Academic Online, the online note-taking feature is the best choice. On the PTE Practice Platform, you also have the online note-taking feature exactly the same as if you take the PTE Academic Online, so make sure to use it during your practice. 

Live-Interactive PTE Practice Platform

To practice every day and improve our skills time after time, we cannot miss the PTE Practice Platform, which offers the following benefits:

• Thousands of practice questions;
• Full 2-hour mock tests and Estimated scores;
• Same grading elements that Pearson uses to evaluate test-takers skill;
• Instantly detailed feedback for all question types;
• An integrated dictionary;
• Three supportive vocab lists;
• Other supportive self-study features.

 Regarding instantly detailed feedback for P1: Write Essay, we evaluate students’ answers based on Content, Form, Grammar, Vocabulary, Coherence, and Linguistic Range, which are the same as the grading elements that Pearson uses to assess test-takers skills.

Let’s take a look at this video feedback sample for a better understanding.

The PTE Practice Platform offers FREE accounts to all users so that they are able to experience everything for FREE before getting the Premium accounts. Go to visit the platform and experience the most effective PTE practice platform.