Learn About Retell Lecture PTE: Format, Timing, Tips

Retell Lecture is the fifth task of Part 1 - Speaking & Writing section of the PTE exam. Retell Lecture PTE assesses the Listening and Speaking skills of the test takers and the total duration per exam may last from 130-150 seconds. Read this article to learn everything about Retell Lecture PTE. 

The PTE exam differentiates itself from the other English exams due to its integrated skills tasks, easy format, shorter duration and more stress on “Academic English” rather than the modern and flashy English, which is considered good in other English exams. Some tasks in the PTE exam are the integrated skills tasks. These tasks assess more than 1 English language skill per question out of the four - speaking, writing, listening and reading skills. One such task is the “Retell Lecture” in PTE. Retell Lecture is the 5th task in “Part 1: Speaking and Writing” of the PTE Exam. The task assesses both the listening and speaking skills, which means that your task in this question will add towards and affect your dedicated communicative skill scores for these two skills. Read on to learn more about the Retell Lecture task of the PTE exam, tips to answer it, samples, scoring, time limit and more. 

How to Answer Retell Lecture PTE?

The main task in this question of the PTE exam is to repeat what you just listened on the headphone, i.e. the lecture,  in your own words. You have a time limit for this task. 

When you come across this question in your PTE exam, you will have the following components on your screen (also shown in the image below) -

• An instruction prompt that defines what needs to be done in the question 
• A figure - graph, pie chart or table 
• An audio recording status box

So, when this question appears on your screen, a short audio will automatically start playing on your headphones. You may also see an image or a short video on your screen when the audio automatically starts on your headphones.  

You need to listen to that prompt very carefully and take notes if required, for example, if the prompt talks about an image on your screen and you can’t remember every detail told about it in your audio prompt. 

After the audio recording stops, you will get only 10 seconds of a break to prepare an answer. After 10 seconds, you will hear a short “beep” tone on your headphones, which indicates that the microphone on your headphones will now start recording. As soon as that happens, the countdown of 40 seconds starts in the audio box on your screen. You must speak what you just heard on your headphones into the mic in your own words. Check the complete tips to prepare for PTE Speaking & Writing.

PTE Retell Lecture Time Limit

The time allotted to attempt the Retell Lecture in PTE exam is divided into 3 components:

1. The prompt listening/watching time (prompt varies, it can be an audio or video recording)
2. The answer preparation time
3. The actual time to answer - summarising what you heard

Here’s the time allotment for each of these:

PTE Retell Lecture Template

Practically speaking, there’s no template for the Retell Lecture task in PTE. As the prompt type and prompt length vary every time, along with the diverse set of topics it can discuss, you can not memorise a set template that fits all your prompt requirements. You can instead note a few tips and tricks on attempting the question correctly without wasting any time. In the following sections, you will come across the most tried and tested Retell Lecture PTE tips and tricks for getting the best scores. You may also check tips to imrove PTE Writing section's scores. 

PTE Retell Lecture Practice with Answers

For the best practice of Retell Lecture PTE, you must check out the sample recordings of the same in PTE Mock Tests, available on the official website. You can also buy one of the best books to prepare for the PTE, i.e. “PTE Practice Test Plus”. This book comes with all the sample questions and answers, along with some real questions and answers from the previous PTE exams. The Retell Lecture’s recording will be accessible from the CD that comes attached to the back cover of this book. Just play that CD on your computer, listen or watch the audio/video prompt and try to speak and summarise what you heard in that video. 

Note: Notes-taking is allowed in the PTE exam. So, you can make small notes to remember the main points, numbers or other critical information from your prompt. In the 10 seconds of preparation time, just go through your notes again and then speak all that you remember in your own words. 

PTE Retell Lecture Tips and Tricks 

Below are a few tips and question instructions to ace the Retell Lecture PTE.

1. The question prompt audio begins to play itself automatically on your headphones. You cannot replay the recording. Hence, listen to whatever is being said in the audio very carefully. If you missed a word, a number or a slight detail in your prompt, don’t dwell on it. Instead, focus on what’s left so that you do not get to the edge of leaving the answer blank.
2. Wait for the short tone or “beep” sound before you start speaking your response. If you speak before the short tone, your answer will not get recorded. 
3. Speak each word clearly - without rushing and without going too slow. Both will impact how your answer will be scored. If you speak too fast, the AI algorithm might miss a word and if you speak too slowly, the recorder might end recording before you finish your answer. 
4. All in all, you can listen to the recording only once and you can also record your answer only once. Thus, you need to be really careful in attempting Retell Lecture PTE. 
5. Include all ideas and information you noted while listening to the recording. If you fumble, make any mistake or skip a word, just do not pause and go on with speaking your answer. Because if you stop, pause and repeat your answer, you may lose the precious few seconds left for recording your answer. So, keep on speaking and finish your answer to the very end as it will be assessed based on its “content” also, which contains the aspect of how much of the prompt length you have already covered in your answer. 

Tip: You will be provided with an erasable noteboard. Make full use of it to note down crucial facts and figures in small bullet points.

Don’t try to write every word you listen to on the headphones. Instead, note down the important keywords and numbers. Use arrows, symbols and short form to take your notes. You also draw process diagrams using arrows and symbols to note what is said in the recording. You may also check the "PTE Repeat Sentence Tips and Tricks" as this task is similar to the Retell Lecture in PTE. 

PTE Retell Lecture Practice Questions

For the benefit of our readers, we have provided below the sample Retell Lecture prompts. These snaps of the question prompts or PTE Retell Lecture examples are sourced from the best preparation book of Pearson PTE - “PTE Practice Test Plus”. 

1. For example, in the first image you can get a hint from the image itself that the recording is going to be about the “polluted city”. So, prepare yourself to take notes on air pollution, noise pollution, industrial pollution and more such topics.

Image Source: Pearson PTE

2. In the second image, you can guess that it’s about a meeting, the ways of dealing with a difficulty and finding its solution, etc. 

Image Source: Pearson PTE

You may also check the " Top 10 Spoken English Books" to practice better.

How is Retell Lecture in PTE Scored?

Your answer to the “Retell Lecture” task in PTE is assessed based on “your ability to give a presentation of the information you heard in the prompt” - as mentioned by Pearson PTE. 

PTE Test Retell Lecture undergoes partial scoring. You don’t get any scores if you don’t answer or if your answer is irrelevant or seems unoriginal. An answer summarised in your own words is considered the best answer for this task. 

This was all about Retell Lecture PTE. You may also check details on other tasks as well to get your hands on the right strategy to answer and score high on other tasks as well. 

• PTE Describe Image
• PTE Read Aloud
• PTE Personal Introduction