A lot of the times, especially for the first-time test takers have tons of general queries which lingers around and creates uncertainty. Our goal is not only to provide an answer to the “what if” scenarios of your question but also to provide the right advice and back every single information we share with facts. We hope that these will be informative and helpful for you and with that in mind, here are some of the most prevailing “what if” scenarios and our thoughts on them.
- What if I speak in one breath and do not pause in Read Aloud?
It is an omnipresent and a really common question. To that we will say that first and foremost, we have to look at the Pearson’s Task Format. The recommendation for the format is to read at a Natural Flow; communicating with a rhythm and a constant pace. Phrasing and maintaining a smooth rhythm are the core expectation for you to get native-like scores for fluency.
- What if I insert one or two filler words in Repeat Sentence to maintain fluency?
Even though the margins are very difficult to assess but we did find out Pearson penalizes you for insertions and replacements of words. It might be tricky with regards to speaking but you are definitely losing scores in the Listening Module. The risk factor here is very high and it must be avoided. So, our advice is you repeat as many words you recall and of course present it in a way that you are understandable and you are speaking at a constant rate.
- What if I only mention colors in describe image?
According to Pearson’s marking criteria, Pearson strictly requires not just to associate relevant information but also to build relationships between the points and develop the ideas to come up with something meaningful.
- What if I only re-tell 15-20 random keywords in re-tell lectures?
Our research indicates that it is not just about keywords match. It is about key information and correct content presented in a meaningful manner. Just having a lot of keywords may work counter-intuitively because trying to say word-by-word may result in you speaking words one at a time that may result in hindering your fluency because there is no connection. What we advise is you should go for note-taking methods and take notes in such a way that to a certain degree, they are understandable, meaningful and relevant.
- What if I do not say anything and press next in Answer Short Question?
It is a very possible scenario where some of the questions that we face, we may not know the answer of. Our recommendation is to think for a second or two or you can simply say pause. It may not generate any scores but the overall score does not drop.
Feel free to come up with your own queries and drop a comment down below and we will try to address your queries!
