More PET practice and some advice

In the following links you have a lot of information and `ractice for your PET exam:

Practice and advice for Reading and Writing:

https://www.examenglish.com/PET/PET_reading_and_writing.html

https://www.examenglish.com/PET/PET_for_schools_reading_and_writing.html

Listening:

https://www.examenglish.com/PET/PET_listening.html

https://www.examenglish.com/PET/PET_for_schools_listening.html

And finally, some advice for the Speaking part (also from www.examenglish.com) :

Tricks to help you feel confident

1. While you're waiting to go in, speak English to the people waiting with you. That way you're not going in "cold" – suddenly having to switch from your own language to English. Think of it like doing warm up stretches before going for a run
2. Forget about grammar and vocabulary today. Concentrate on answering the questions, listening to the instructions and your partner (for tasks where you have to interact with another student). If you've been studying for the exam for months beforehand, you know all the grammar and vocabulary you're going to know. So, there's no point worrying about that on the day of the exam!
3. If you make a mistake, correct it and move on. Don't let it interfere with your fluency. You get marked down for hesitation and long pauses. But, correcting your mistakes, or even, asking the examiner or the other candidate to repeat or clarify something can gain you marks. It's called a 'repair strategy' and it's a sign of good communication skills.

Tricks for success in the exam

1. Be interesting! Remember the examiner has been going through the same routine all day and he or she is bored. There are standard questions at the beginning of the exam about where you live, your free time and school subjects, for example. The examiner has probably heard the same answers all morning. If you're taking the exam in your own country, this is especially true as most candidates live in the same city. Before the exam, think of some interesting fact about the place you live, or a hobby you have that is a bit different, or give an opinion about your school subject. Just one or two sentences are enough to get the exam off to a good start.
2. Interact with the other candidate. Not everyone can get top marks for grammar, vocabulary or pronunciation, but there's no reason not to get a 5 for 'interactive communication'. This mark is for initiating conversation, responding to what your partner has said, and trying to move the discussion towards an outcome. 
   Acknowledge something the other candidate has said and develop it – just like a conversation in the real world. Try to avoid just giving stock phrases like "I agree with you" and then moving onto a different topic. Say why you agree (or disagree) and discuss the point. For example 'That's what I think too because…'. You can ask the other candidate why they have that opinion too.
3. Be yourself! It's OK to make jokes or use humour. Just because it's an exam doesn't mean everything you say has to be super serious. If your personality comes across, then it means the examiner is more likely to think of you as someone who expresses themselves well in English.

So, take a deep breath and remember – in under twenty minutes, it's all going to be over!

PET advice for the Speaking part

Here you have some advice for the speaking part of PET : examples of questions, structures, etc

Pet speaking questions with answers from loe11

PET Speaking Guide from msmary7th

Advice for the Speaking part of KET

In the following slideshows, you can find useful information for the Speaking in KET. For example, some structures you can use to answer the questions in Part 1, how to act during the exam or some exercises to practice part 2.

Ket speaking part 1 from Fernanda Vignolles

Ket speaking overall guide de basilthemouse

Welcome Primary 6 students 2014-2015!

Hello and welcome to my blog! Here you can find some useful websites to practice the different parts of KET and PET. You can also practice your grammas ( check previous entries)

Here you have the speaking video we watched together in class








In this link, you can see the notes the examiners wrote about Chiara and Victoria. Why don´t you check them?

http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/images/149446-pet-for-schools-examiner-s-comments.pdf

This video below shows a KET speaking. How do you think the students did in the exam?

How to do PET

Here you have the information we read in the Power Point Presentation in class.Remember what we said about distractors!

                                                               Reading

Part 1

Read each text and ask yourself: Where is it? Who is it for? Why is it there?

Read A, B and C carefully before you choose.

Remember, the WHOLE meaning of the answer must be correct.

Don´t choose an answer just because it includes a word or phrase from the text.

Part 2

Read the instructions and all the information at once.

Underline the key words in the people descriptions

Make sure all the information matches your choice

Check that three texts you haven´t chose don´t match any of the people.

Part 3

Read the title and text quickly for general meaning

Don’t worry about any difficult words, they may not be important

Read the sentences and underline the key words

Read the text again carefully and decide whether each sentence is correct or incorrect

Part 4

Read the title and text once

Decide if the questions are about general or specific information

Read the text again carefully.

Before you decide, check the other options carefully.

For general questions, look at the meaning of the whole text. A word or an idea from the options may be repeated in the text, but this doesn’t mean it’s the right answer.

Part 5

Read the title and text before you look at the options.

Look at the words before and after a gap to help you understand what it´s missing

Think of a word which fits the gap before you look at the options.

Check that your answer fits the meaning and grammar of the sentence.

Tips for reading

It is important to recognise the difference between a fact and an opinion in Reading texts

Look for different ways of saying the same thing. They may use one word in the text and a different one in the answer

Make sure the whole answer you choose is correct, not just part of it.

 

                                                                    Writing

Part 1

Read the first sentence and think of a way of saying the same thing

Look carefully at the words before and after the gap

Make sure the tense and form of any verbs are correct

Check that your answer has exactly the same meaning as the first sentence

Part 2

Read the instructions carefully

Make sure you know who you are writing to and why

Include all three points. Don´t include anything unncessary

Check the number of words you have written

Part 3

Read the task carefully and think of a story that fits the tittle.

For both the letter and the story, think about the tenses you need to use.

Make a plan with a clear beginning, middle and end

Use narrative tenses and linking words to tell the story.

Make your story writing more interesting by using adjectives and adverbs.

Make sure your story fits with the title you´ve been given. If you are asked to write a happy story, don´t give it an unhappy ending.

Start letter with Dear (+name) and a suitable beginning such as Thank you for your letter. Finish with a suitable ending such as with love, Best wishes, from (+name)

Tips for writing

Before you start writing, plan your ideas, and organise them in paragraphs, deciding the best order for them

Always check your work for mistakes with spelling, grammar and punctuation

Your writing will be more interesting if you use a range of vocabulary. Don´t just repeat the words from the task.

If you are not sure what to write, use your imagination.

 

                                                                   Listening

Part 1

Think about each question separately

Decide what the different pictures show

Listen to the whole text before you choose an answer

The speakers may talk about more than one picture, but only one is the right answer

Check your answers on the second listening

Part 2

Read the instructions and questions carefully when you listen

Mark your answer then move on to the next question

Don´t choose an answer just because you hear a word from the option

Part 3

Read the instructions and questions for an idea of what you will hear

Listen for different ways of talking about 1-6

Think about one question at a time

Check your answers on the second listening

You must spell the words correctly.

If your answer is a figure, you can write it in words or numbers.

Tips for listening

Don’t worry if you don’t understand every word you hear. You may still be able to answer the questions.

                                  

Speaking

Part 1

Listen carefully to the question

Give as much information as you can

Use appropriate tenses

Part 2

Talk to your partner and encourage them to speak

Discuss each picture in turn

Talk about all the pictures in detail. Try to say as much as you can about each of the photos before you make a decision.

Try to reach an agreement

Part 3

Talk for as long as you can.

Describe the people, the place, etc, in detail

Use adjectives and adverbs to make your description interesting

Part 4

Give long answers

Encourage your partner to speak

Listen to your partner and respond.

Tips for speaking

The part 4 questions are connected to the photos, so you can use some of your ideas from Part 3

Listen to your partner’s opinion and agree or disagree politely, giving reasons.

If you don´t know or can´t remember the word for something, say what it does or how you can use it.

Make sure you use the right tense to answer the questions

PET speaking

Here you can watch a PET speaking video. How do you think these students did in the exam? What acn they improve? What did they do well?