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How to Increase Your PTE Oral Fluency

Note: This PTE oral fluency article contains some complex English vocabulary. Many of these vocabulary words are linked to dictionary.com so that you can check their meaning while you read. Make sure you click on a hyperlinked word if you don’t understand its meaning.

Lately E2Language has received a lot of questions from students asking how to increase their PTE oral fluency score and their PTE speaking score in general. The good news is that fluency is easy to build; you just have to persevere through your insecurities. And trust me – everybody has insecurities about speaking in a foreign language! I have enough embarrassing French pronunciation stories to put you to sleep, so I won’t share them here. Just know you that you’re not alone!

First off, we need to draw a big distinction between two concepts that get confused a lot. These concepts are: fluency vs. accuracy.

English Fluency

Fluency is your ability to speak continuously in English without unnecessary pauses or fillers (umm, ahhh etc.), no matter how many grammar and vocabulary mistakes you make. Being fluent doesn’t mean you are speaking perfect English, it merely means that you are speaking comfortably and others are able to understand you. In my opinion, anyone can be fluent in English with enough practice and confidence.

PTE Oral Fluency
Fluency means speaking continuously, even if you make mistakes!

English Accuracy

Accuracy is your ability to speak fluently in English without making mistakes. Here is what you need to understand: fluency comes first and accuracy follows. You will never speak English with accuracy if you are not fluent first. And obviously, the more fluent you are, the more accurate you will become with practice.

So remember: When it comes to the PTE speaking section – and specifically – PTE oral fluency score, the test assessors are interested in how natural your speech sounds, how well it flows and how comfortable and confident you come across. They are not interested in counting the number of mistakes you make while you speak.

With this important distinction in mind, let’s get to some key PTE oral fluency tips!

PTE Oral Fluency Tip: Get a conversation partner

This is an incredibly helpful way to build your fluency over time. The key here is to pick a partner who is dedicated to simply having a conversation with you. This person should not correct you every time you make a mistake, nor should they give you any tips about the way you speak (at least not until the conversation is over!).  Find someone who speaks fluent English and who has interesting things to say about topics you want to discuss. Talk about the news, the latest movies or your relationships – whatever you find riveting! If you are interested in a topic, you are more likely to forget about the mechanics of the conversation and focus on enjoying the actual content.

Here are some do’s and don’t’s:

Do: pick an interesting conversation partner who is a native or near-native English speaker.

Do: talk about topics you are actually interested in, not just something related to PTE material.

Do: ask your partner to tell you what they notice is improving about your fluency after the conversation.

Don’t: ask your partner to correct you or give you language tips while you are talking.

Don’t: forget to have a two-way conversation with your partner, rather than a monologue of you practicing your English!

If you don’t know any native speakers of English or feel uncomfortable practicing with a friend, try conversationexchange or a similar website to find your conversation partner!

PTE Oral Fluency Tip: Build your vocabulary

One of the major reasons why people find it difficult to speak without pauses and fillers is because they are constantly searching for the correct vocabulary. Vocabulary is built over time, but there are a lot of ways to boost your repertoire on a daily basis. Check out our great PTE vocabulary article for some helpful tips about how to do this. And make sure you always follow these two important rules:

Rule 1: If you notice you use the same word all the time, go to thesaurus.com immediately and find some synonyms for that word. You must broaden your lexical horizons!

Rule 2: If you’re engaged in a conversation and don’t know a word, describe it to your conversation partner. Don’t stop talking! The person will likely supply you with the word you need and you can continue the conversation without interruption.

For example:

You: “I was walking past this place yesterday, it’s a place where people go when they don’t have anywhere else to stay and they live on the street…”

Conversation partner: “A homeless shelter”

You: “Yes, a homeless shelter. Anyway, I was walking past this homeless shelter and I realized that I really wanted to volunteer there.”

PTE Oral Fluency
Describe a word if you don’t know it, don’t stop talking!

PTE Oral Fluency Tip: Use English every single day

It doesn’t matter if it’s in the shower, to your cat, to the mirror or in your car. Use English as much as you possibly can. Some non-native speakers use English at work, with their friends or with their families. Even these people can benefit from chatting to themselves in the shower while they get ready for work or practicing a speech in front of the mirror. Practice builds confidence. The big advantage of practicing by yourself is that you can’t get embarrassed if you make a mistake. A little bit of practice every day could make an enormous difference to your confidence and – by extension – your oral fluency. So:

Do: Set aside time to speak in English every single day, even (and especially!) if you are all alone. Make it a habit, like brushing your teeth!

Do: speak about whatever comes to mind without worrying about grammatical mistakes.

Don’t: Beat yourself up about not knowing how to say something. Rather, try to look it up online or in a dictionary.

Don’t: Talk to yourself in public in front of strangers. You might get some strange looks! 🙂

PTE Oral Fluency Tip: Listen, listen, listen!

When you listen to people speaking English, stop worrying so much about what they are saying and start noticing how they are saying it. English has rhythm, tones and patterns that you might not be picking up on right now because you are so concerned about getting your grammar right! A large part of becoming a fluent English speaker is being able to mimic the way native-speakers talk. And at first it really will just be about mimicking them, because you won’t understand why people choose to talk the way they do. But after a while, you’ll start recognizing patterns and you will be able to identify when it is appropriate to use a certain tone or inflection in your speech.

Here are some more do’s and don’t’s:

Do: listen to the radio, TV shows and people around you for clues about how people talk in different contexts.

Do: practice mimicking the way native-speakers use their voices to convey meaning.

Don’t: be so concerned about getting your grammar right that you end up talking like a robot.

PTE Oral Fluency
Listen to English audiobooks, radio and podcasts for speaking clues from native speakers!

Confidence is Everything

Overall, oral fluency is improved when you immerse yourself in English as much as possible and let go of your insecurities about making mistakes. It’s hard to let go of your fears, but as soon as you do, fluency becomes achievable, as does accuracy. Believe me, it’s easier than you think.

If you’re an E2Language student, make sure you’ve downloaded our app, E2Pronounce! It provides you with valuable feedback about your pronunciation and helps you build your academic vocabulary accurately. Also, make sure you check out our free PTE pronunciation and oral fluency activities!

Written by Kaia Myers-Stewart

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All Comments 46
  • goutham says:

    Hi Kaia
    I have already taken IELTS , But im unhappy with my score I got LSW-6 R-5. Im in dilemma which one to write PTE or IELTS , I may require band 7 in IELTS , and 65 in PTE . Please suggest me which 1 can be cracked.

  • Nits says:

    Hi,
    I have taken my IELTS, and my score was L-8.5, R-6.5, W-6, S-6, but I need 7 in each so tried to take a chance with PTE. I am going to take PTE in the mid of March. What could be my chances to score 65 in each section.

    Thanks,
    Nits

  • Linda van der Voorde says:

    Hello,

    I have a question, I am a good English speaker, I speak fluently, a lot of English native speakers even think I am from America. So that says something about my English. I did the PTE twice, I got a 9 for pronunciation but the first time a 58 for oral fluency and second time a 38 for oral fluency. This lowered my speaking score to 77 points, only 2 points less then needed. I do not understand why I had such a low score. I spoke slow, steady and fluent. A re-scoring is no option considering they use the same computer program. These tips are fantastic but apparently it doesn’t mean anything if you do everything right. Do you have any idea what I need to do to get a higher score for oral fluency?

  • Nitin says:

    Hi,
    I have taken 3 mock tests from Pearson Official website and in all three mock tests, I have consistently scored 10 in pronunciation, technically it means zero. I have even changed my microphone in last mock test but the result was same. I am not able to understand, how I can score 10 in pronunciation. This is heavily impacting my speaking and reading score. My scores are below for all the three tests:
    Test-a:
    L-64,R-47,S-54,W-65 (Oral Fluency-72, Pronunciation-10)
    Test-b:
    L-66,R-54,S-49,W-70 (Oral Fluency-68, Pronunciation-10)
    Test-c:
    L-62,R-54,S-44,W-70 (Oral Fluency-64, Pronunciation-10)

    is there any issue with PTE-A software for certain type of voices and I have seen a lot of people facing this problem who scoring zero in pronunciation.I have given my PTE-A on 16th Apr and waiting for the result. I need to decide should I go for PTE or I should take IELTS. My last IELTS score was L-8.5, W-6, S-6, R-6.5. I need 7 in each in IELTS or 65+ in PTE.

    Appreciate your suggestion here!

    Thanks,
    Nitin

    • abhi says:

      Hello Nitin,

      That is definitely frustrating. Could you please share your scorecards with our Duty Tutor so that they can identify the next steps?

      You can share your results here.

      Best,
      AC

  • JEAN says:

    Hi E2,
    I took the PTE exam twice but i still did not make it. Can you please help me with my exams to get my desired score? L-63 R-62 S- 41 W-74
    Grammar – 82
    Oral fluency – 23
    Pronunciation – 29
    Spelling – 76
    Vocabulary – 70
    Written Discourse – 83

    Thanks,
    Jean

    • abhi says:

      Hello Jean,

      Thank you for reaching out and sorry to hear about your scores.

      Our Duty Tutors will be perfectly happy to assist you with your preparation. Please share your test results, the scores you wish to achieve and your next test date by clicking on this link so that our Duty Tutor can reach out to you.

      Best,
      AC

  • Joginder pal Singh says:

    Hii I did Pte before 6 months ago my score in speaking 62 Writing 47 Reading 45 Listening 47 so please suggest me for better score!

    Thankyou

    • abhi says:

      Hello Joginder,

      Thank you for reaching out.

      We would be happy to assist you. Please reach out to our Duty Tutor by clicking on this link and they will take it from there 🙂

  • Parmeet SAWHNEY says:

    Hello Jay,

    I have been facing the same situation as Linda van der Voorde. I have been scoring 8 in reading, writing and listening but in my speaking I am scoring like 72, 77 and 78. The thing which I am not able to understand is that my pronunciation is 90 always but my oral fluency is 68 or 72 without stopping at any point. Any way to contact you guys personally?

  • Ye says:

    Hi E2,

    I have downloaded your e2pronounce but could not use it. Because there are 2 blankets for username and password and a SIGH IN button. I tried my ID on your website but it did not work.
    Could you please let me know how to sign in this app?
    Thank you for your assistance.

    Ye

  • Syed Fazalul Rehman says:

    Hello Team,
    Could you please share the details of fee structure and training details. I already took the exam and i scored very less as per my requirement.

  • Janender says:

    I was happy after giving PTE test but my heart broked when i saw results overall 50 and 70+ was my target and i had prepared from e2material. Two months ago i had purchased basic package from e2.

  • Dee p says:

    Hi guys,

    My scores are L-78, R-69, S-53 and W-89. Grammar-75, oral fluency 10, pronunciation – 59, spelling 74, vocabularly- 90 and written discourse 78.

    My target is band 8 equivalent to Ielts. Could you guide a path to achieve that and improve my weakness.

    Regards

    Dee

  • rabiul islam says:

    Hi,
    I have taken 2 mock tests from Pearson Official website and one Real Exam & in all three tests, I have consistently scored 10 in pronunciation, technically it means zero. I have even changed my microphone in last mock test but the result was the same. I am not able to understand, how I can score 10 in pronunciation. This is heavily impacting my speaking, listening and reading score. My scores are below for all the three tests:

    Test-A:
    L-55,R-47,S-48,W-59 (Oral Fluency-53, Pronunciation-10)

    Test-B:
    L-60,R-44,S-45,W-64 (Oral Fluency-51, Pronunciation-10)

    Real Test:
    L-66,R-64,S-46,W-71 (Oral Fluency-71, Pronunciation-10)

    is there any issue with PTE- Software for certain type of voices and I have seen a lot of people facing this problem who scoring zero in pronunciation. I need 7 in each in IELTS or 65+ in PTE.

    Appreciate your suggestion in this regard!

    Thanks,
    Rabiul Islam

  • amandeep says:

    I have taken three time but all time got less in speaking and I need just 58+ but I couldn’t get it because of speaking module.Pls guide me..

  • kishan kumar says:

    Hello,

    I have taken test on 9th of November but i got less in all sections my score L-49, R-55, S-60, W-52 and pronunciation ans spelling less 27 and 45 I need just 79+ pls guide me. i am [email protected] silver member.

  • Christine Mukiri says:

    I did pte and got a score of 50 and i need 68 in all bands and a mean of 70 help please, and did ielts as well and got mean of 6.5 reading 5 writing 6 speaking 7 listening 5.5 and i need a band of 7 in ielts am confused which i should take to get my requierd band ..help please

  • bela says:

    hello,
    How can I check whether I have improved my pronunciation as well as oral fluency?
    Do you recommend any application for samsung phone or any website for laptop?

    • olivia says:

      More than any app we suggest you find yourself a speaking buddy who you can directly practice with! We offer 1-on-one video classes with our expert PTE teachers when you sign up for our inclusive packages! If you’re interested in improving through our services you can learn more here: https://help.e2language.com/support/home

  • Sharanya says:

    Hi,

    I have taken my PTE A yesterday and very disappointed with my speaking score of 40 with a 20 in pronunciation and 28 in oral fluency. I have 83, 89, 64 in listening, writing and reading respectively. I followed all the tips given in your youtube videos. I am not sure where I am going wrong with my speaking module. Could you please help.

    • olivia says:

      Oh no! So sorry to hear about your frustrations! We have trained E2 Duty Tutors who can help you by looking at your previous scores, considering your goal and suggest you E2 Packages that would best suit you!

      If you’re interested in help from us in this way go ahead and send a message to the student help desk:
      https://help.e2language.com/support/tickets/new

      Please specify your:
      EXAM
      Previous scores in detail
      Goal score
      WHen and if you have another exam booked

      GOOD LUCK!
      Olivia & The E2 Team

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