Word Limit for Summarize Spoken Text in PTE

The PTE certification is one of the most widely recognized assessments of English language skills, particularly for entrance to prestigious colleges around the world. It assesses overall English language proficiency in an academic context.

The PTE speaking module will assess your ability to listen, speak, and write. Students will need to develop the capacity to communicate confidently and effectively during their time living in a foreign country, and it will aid them throughout their lives. Speaking abilities are described as the ability to communicate effectively. They enable us to communicate relevant information in a manner that the recipient can understand.

What is ‘Summarize Spoken Text’?

One component of the PTE Listening test is summarizing spoken text. This task is designed to assess your capacity to comprehend, analyze, and integrate information from a lecture before summarizing the key points in writing. It evaluates both listening and writing abilities as you will be listening, taking notes, and writing.

What is the word limit for this task in PTE?

The task at hand is to write a 50-70 word summary after having listened to a recording. The prompt duration will last from 60 to 90 seconds. This item type requires you to listen to an audio tape and write a 50-70 word synopsis of what you hear.

You will have ten minutes to listen to the recording and summarize it. The audio starts playing automatically. The audio recording can only be listened to once. The word count will be displayed at the bottom of the screen. It keeps track of how many words you write. Ensure that you write at least 50 words but not more than 70 words. In short, the word limit for ‘Summarize Spoken Text’ in PTE is 50-70 words.

You’ll also find cut, copy, and paste buttons that you can use while writing your summary.

How to write a Summary?

Now that you know about the PTE task in detail, let us discuss how to write an effective summary of the given text, which will help you achieve a good score.

• Start making a note of the focal point of the passage being narrated while listening to the recording.

• After that, take note of any supplementary points and supporting information, in addition to any examples provided. This will serve as the framework for your summary paragraph.

• You may use it as an outline and add in the appropriate connectors as required to make certain that the paragraph reads elegantly and concisely and that the answer text contains no grammar or punctuation errors.
• The audio recording’s content must be completely and precisely summarised. All key points should be addressed in the answer without modifying or misrepresenting the overall spirit of the material provided to the candidate.
• The summary must be provided in the format specified by the question type, i.e., between 50 and 70 words. It must be punctuated appropriately as well as grammatically correct.

Expert Tips for ‘‘Summarize Spoken Text”

Follow our expert tips to get a top score in the Summarize Spoken Text questions:

• To begin, use the first couple of minutes of the response time to frame your answer.
• Understand the central theme of the text that has been read to you and make certain that you maintain the unique characteristics and objective in the final response.
• Create and start practicing a short-hand tactic to take notes more quickly and effectively.
• Make sure your sentences are properly connected and go well together. Do not rearrange the order of the key points mentioned in the audio tape.
• Make use of specific original words or phrases from the recording. When possible, use synonyms to communicate the same points, but make sure they are presented in an engaging manner.
• Because you only have 70 words, don’t overcomplicate the structure of the summary. Do not include any additional information from your end.
• If you don’t know how to spell any of the words, names, or places mentioned, use replacement descriptors to avoid losing points for spelling mistakes.

Samples for Practice

You will hear a short lecture. Write a summary for a fellow student who was not present at the lecture.

You should write 50 – 70 words. You have 10 minutes to finish the task. Your response will be judged on the quality of your writing and on how well your response presents the key points presented in the lecture.

Question 1

Audio: Question 1.mp3

Question 2 

Audio: Question 2.mp3

Click here for the answers.

Thus, you can confidently attempt the summarize spoken text task by following the above guidelines. Take a look at the following Sample Questions to practice your skills.