Many PTE students prepare online and take courses in order to prepare for the test before they go for their official one, however, many students come across this trouble of not knowing whether they should use a microphone for listening and speaking section; for both IELTS and PTE, or not?
If they should, how exactly to use a microphone for their PTE preparation and what brand of microphone should they use? Whether Bluetooth works better or a cable? What mistake should they avoid that other students already made and faced a loss of scores?
Should You Buy A Microphone For Online Preparation?
If you are preparing for IELTS, a microphone is not that essential, however, you might require a pair of headphones or mobile earphones that will allow you to listen to the accents spoken in the test properly so you do not miss out on the important details.
For PTE, using good quality headphones which also have a microphone attached to them is highly essential as you have to listen and speak into the microphone for your PTE test.
In this case, mobile earphones can work too but some mobile earphones are not good at catching the spoken words so a microphone would be a better option.
Another reason why you should use the headphones and a microphone with it is that it gives you the same environment as you will be in during your PTE test.
Using quality headphones also keep your focus and concentration in one place and you successfully avoid all other distractions where you are practicing for your test.
When you practice for your test using your normal mobile earphones, you might face trouble with the quality of your voice recording for the speaking module.
This can be a problem if you cannot figure out whether you spoke wrong or the quality of your audio levels was messed up, so in case of practicing for the PTE test, it is necessary to get yourself good headphones with a mic attached to it.
How to Set Up The Microphone For My PTE Test Preparation:
In the PTE test, before your speaking section starts, you are given extra minutes to use this time in order to set up your microphone as it is feasible for you.
There are no such rules as to where should you put the mic. Pearson staff would allow you to use the microphone headset, adjust it according to your feasibility and record your voice just to check whether you can hear yourself clearly or not.
If just in case, the microphone is not working properly, you are allowed to ask the Pearson staff to get you an alternate pair of headsets which you can check again to see if it is working for you.
Please remember to use these ten minutes well and make sure you sound audible and clear to your own self and your words are not breathy or too airy creating a burst of air into the microphone.
How To Test The Microphone?
The first thing you should do when you are assigned to a computer and a headset with a microphone is to check the system.
If you find any issues such as low audio level despite increasing the volume to the full extent or any other technical issues with the computer or the microphone you will get, you must report it to Pearson staff before starting your test.
They will fix the issues immediately in order for you to continue your test without further difficulty or trouble.
Use the time given to you properly and test the mic. You can do this by speaking into the microphone while it records your voice and then listening to it to get an idea of how it will sound like to the computer that will test your speaking and reading modules.
The microphone is supposed to successfully capture all of what you spoke very accurately.
Speak a sentence or two and listen to it multiple times. You are allowed to listen to it and record your own voice multiple times in those ten minutes given to you so make sure you do not lose your scores because of technical microphone difficulties.
What you should make sure of is that there are no breathing noises or any other static sounds of the microphone itself.
We also have a couple of sentences that you can speak into the microphone for the testing time such as, three redfish are swimming in the sea. Or, she thought about taking the trash out, etc.
What Is The Ideal Position Of The Microphone?
So where exactly do you face the trouble?
As you start speaking, words that are breathy and have air bursting sounds make your voice incomprehensible for the computer because of too much air.
The microphone would not be able to record what you spoke clearly and you will end up losing all your marks.
For your speaking module, you must make sure that your voice, words, their pronunciation, and accent are clear enough as your pronunciation is scored in the overall module as well.
After testing this many times with several PTE test-takers, the ideal position of the microphone should be placed parallel to your nose or right below your lower lip i.e. close to the chin.
Do not place the microphone straight in front of your lips as the breathy sounds will make you sound unclear.
The position mentioned above would still need adjusting so feel free to adjust it either below your lower lip or parallel to your phone with a distance of two fingers pressed together in between the microphone and your mouth.
If you place the mic in such positions, it will be able to capture your words clearly however, you still must check it by recording yourself several times before the module starts.
Do not place the mic under the nose or right in front of the lips while you speak as there is a high chance of air getting captured.
Remember to keep all your focus on the test as it is very difficult to keep up with if you keep getting distracted by the microphone, you might also lose a couple of marks if you touch the microphone too much so you must avoid that at all costs.
Which Headset & Microphone Brand Should I Use For PTE Online Preparation?
There is not a particular headset that you must buy for online preparation.
Any headset with a working microphone is good enough, however, if you do not have headphones at all and intend on buying yourself a new pair, you can buy Logitech and Sennheiser headsets that come with microphones.
Should I Use Bluetooth or Cable Headphones?
For your PTE online test preparation, when you buy yourself a pair of new high-quality headphones, do not rely on the Bluetooth system it holds.
Always remember to use a cable that is directly attached to the computer. It is risky to use the Bluetooth system as it can be a huge problem for you if the Bluetooth connection gets cut off for some technical problems during the test.
You are likely to panic and lose all of your concentration and focus from the test.
In order to avoid this, make sure your headphones are attached with a wire cable instead that will assure you complete access to the microphone without any subtle technical errors, however, when you appear in your test, make sure to check the microphone properly and avoid the mistakes all the other test-takers make.
Common Microphone Mistakes Test Takers Make That You Should Avoid:
- Speaking too fast or Too Loud If you are trying to practice the oral fluency, speaking a hundred words per minute is not the right way.
Oral fluency means speaking at one pace without stopping in between your speech unless you have completed the sentence.
Many students make this mistakes of getting nervous and speaking too fast just to keep up the tempo of their speech but do not make this mistake.
Do not speak too fast or too loud as there are other students who are taking the test and would like it if you speak just to your microphone rather than speak too loud and disturb the other test-takers.
- Speaking in Fragments or Speaking Too Quiet Another mistake test-takers make is that they often break their sentences while speaking.
This causes a setback to not only their focus but they also lose the main point of their speech. Many other students also make the mistake of speaking too quietly that microphone missed some of the speech and thus your sentence does not make sense to the computer resulting in a low score.
Please remember to practice a good amount of times before you take the official test. Practice speaking at a very rapid pace with a normal voice without breaking your speech too many times.
- Placing the Microphone Too Close To Your Mouth Even when the students taking the test, speak with a normal voice, sometimes they place the mic too close to their mouth which automatically sends a loud volume frequency through the microphone.
This can be an issue therefore avoid making this mistake and remember to place the microphone two inches away from your mouth or right underneath your lower lip.
