O.E.T
Occupational English Test (OET) is made up of four sections: listening, speaking, writing and reading. Most people have problems with writing followed by speaking then reading then listening. Hence it might be best to prioritise your preparation in that order if you are constrained for time. Otherwise, you should prepare based on your areas of weakness and strength with more attention dedicated to your weakest area
Writing
The official OET sample materials which contains 3 essays is more than enough the get your desired scores. It is critical you understand the structure and layout or each paragraphs. Look at the introduction and concluding paragraph. Also pay attention to the title of the letter, punctuations and lexis
I then consolidated with two more essays from Benchmark I believe, when I was sure I understood the structure I moved to others. I practiced my essay once the night before my test
Speaking
The free OET videos on YouTube and the freely available role play cards is more than sufficient. Be attentive to the feedback session on the YouTube videos and also the comment sections for helpful hints from others who have done and those preparing to write the OET. Each Video is about 45 minutes which is sufficient when combined with the other two free speaking tests materials on the OET website. It is also advisable to use a practice partner as it gives you a real exam feel. I would recommend you have one to two practice partners and ask for feedback.
The speaking exam is made up of four sections, in the first section, the interlocutor reads the instruction to you.
In the second section, the interlocutor asks you random questions about yourself and random subject areas and your motivations for studying medicine, nursing etc. In the third and four sections, contains the first and second role plays respectively.
In each role play, you are expected to speak for at least five minutes to increase your chance of getting the required scores.
Some general rules to help you
- The interlocutor is always helpful.
- Remember it is both a test of English and medical communication
- Use open ended questions if you can.
- Break down medical jargon or if possible avoid them, ask if medical terminologies are understood.
- Be audible.
- Empathize,.
- Use the right tone and pitch.
- Talk like you would to a nice patient
Reading
The reading section in OET requires two step thinking compared to the reading section in IELTS. The free E2 (with Jay) YouTube video is an extremely helpful video to watch in terms of strategy .It is timed and designed to reflect the same exam conditions you would face.
Listening
In my opinion, this is the easiest of the four sections as long as you can maintain focus and adjust yourself to the Australian accent. The free E2 video with Jay is more than sufficient to get a great score in this component. A good trick to use to increase your chances of getting a great score is to use trigger words or phrases like I explained earlier.
Be very careful of spellings and be consistent with the type of English you use that is American vs British vs Australian English. The unofficial recommended time to prepare for this component is 3 to 4 weeks to be quite comfortable. About 30 mins to 1 hour per day would be sufficient but for those who are quite busy, this can also be studied for with one to two days preparation or as much as two weeks
In summary, the free materials on the OET website is more than sufficient to perfect your skills. However, if you want, there is also an OET reading and listening app on Google play store. As regards strategy, trigger words are extremely helpful that is I try to identify a word or phrase in each question that sums up the question .