NAATI CCL Tips

NAATI CCL Note Taking: What to Write, What to Skip and How to Practise

  • May 6, 2025
  • Com 5
NAATI CCL note taking with a pen and symbols on loose blank paper

Some candidates write furiously through every segment and still can’t read their notes back. Others write nothing and hope their memory holds. Neither works well for long.

Good NAATI CCL note taking sits in the middle: a few words and symbols that trigger your memory, so you can rebuild the full meaning in the other language. This guide covers what the rules allow, what’s worth writing, a simple symbol set, a page layout that stays readable and drills to practise all of it. It works for any CCL language.

We’re an independent practice platform, not NAATI. The rules quoted here come from NAATI’s CCL candidate instructions.

naati ccl note taking 1

What the rules say about NAATI CCL note taking

  • Pen and loose paper only. You may take notes with a pen on loose sheets of paper.
  • No existing notes. You can’t bring notes you prepared earlier, and the sheets should be blank when you start.
  • No typing. Typing notes is banned, as are dictionaries, web browsing and live captions or transcription.
  • Your notes are on camera. Your phone or tablet acts as a second camera beside you so NAATI can see you taking notes.

Have several sheets ready, not one. Turning to a fresh page between dialogues keeps things clean, and you don’t want to hunt for space mid-segment.

Memory first, NAATI CCL note taking second

Segments are 35 words or less, and you must start interpreting within five seconds of the chime. That’s short enough to hold most of a segment in your head, and too short to write it all down.

So the job of NAATI CCL note taking isn’t to record the segment. It’s to catch the details memory tends to drop:

  • Numbers: prices, quantities, phone numbers, reference numbers
  • Dates and times: days, dates, “every fortnight”, “by 5 pm”
  • Names: people, places, medicines, organisations
  • Lists: “passport, Medicare card and a bank statement”
  • Negatives and conditions: “not”, “unless”, “only if”, “before”

Everything else, the general meaning and the tone, you keep in your head. If you’re writing full sentences, you’ve stopped listening.

Try NAATI CCL Practice Test 3: Police & Centrelink

A simple symbol set for NAATI CCL note taking

You don’t need a professional interpreter’s system. Ten or fifteen symbols you use every time are enough. Here’s a starter set; change anything that doesn’t feel natural to you.

SymbolMeaningExample
→go, send, move, lead to→ GP = go to the GP
←come back, return← 2 wk = come back in two weeks
↑ / ↓increase / decreaserent ↑ $20
✗no, not, don’t✗ food = not with food
?a question, or something unsure? cert = do you need a certificate?
=is, means, same asbond = 4 wk
+and, also, plusID + bank st
b/cbecauselate b/c sick
w/ , w/owith, withoutw/o script
!important, urgent, worried! pain at night
☺ / ☹happy / unhappy, satisfied / complaint☹ service

Write your notes in whichever language comes fastest. Many candidates mix both, and that’s fine; they’re for you, not the examiner.

A NAATI CCL note taking layout that stays readable

Messy pages cause more trouble than missing notes. A few habits keep things clear:

  1. Write down the page, not across. One idea per line, short lines.
  2. Draw a line after every segment. Then you never confuse this segment’s numbers with the last one’s.
  3. Indent details. Put the main idea on the left and its details slightly indented underneath.
  4. Number your segments if it helps you keep your place.
  5. Use a new sheet for dialogue two. A fresh page helps you reset.

NAATI CCL note taking in action

Here’s a 30-word English segment:

“Your next appointment is on Thursday the fourteenth at ten past nine. Please bring your Medicare card and the X-ray results, and don’t eat anything after midnight the night before.”

Notes might look like this:

appt Thu 14 — 9:10
  bring: Medicare + X-ray res
  ✗ eat after 12 am (night before)

That’s about a dozen marks on paper, but it holds every detail an examiner would check: day, date, time, two items and the condition. The rest, “please” and the polite tone, stays in your head. Then you interpret the full sentence in your other language, in the first person, starting within five seconds.

Try NAATI CCL Practice Test 5: Visa & Licence Centre

Drills to improve NAATI CCL note taking

NAATI CCL note taking is a physical skill. You get better by doing it, not by reading about it. These drills take ten to twenty minutes each.

1. The no-notes drill

NAATI’s own preparation suggestions include asking someone to read you short passages of about 20 to 40 words and reproducing them in the other language without notes. Do this first. It shows how much your memory can handle on its own.

2. The numbers-only drill

Listen to a segment and write only numbers, dates and names. Then interpret. You’ll be surprised how much the rest of the sentence comes back once the details are anchored.

3. The symbol sprint

Take a short news report and turn each sentence into symbols as fast as you can. After a week, the symbols stop feeling like a code and start feeling automatic.

4. The cold read-back

Take notes on a dialogue, put them away for an hour, then try to interpret from them. If you can’t read your own notes cold, simplify them.

5. The full timed run

Finally, put it all together under test conditions: one play per segment, five seconds to start, notes on loose paper. Record yourself and check what you dropped.

A two-week NAATI CCL note taking plan

If you’re starting from scratch, this simple plan builds the habit without overwhelming you. It’s a suggestion, so stretch it out if you need more time.

DaysFocus
1–3No-notes drill daily; learn five symbols
4–6Numbers-only drill; add five more symbols
7–9Full NAATI CCL note taking on single dialogues; cold read-backs
10–12Two dialogues in one sitting, timed, recorded
13–14A complete marked practice test, then fix what the feedback shows

Notes in both directions

Remember that segments switch direction. When the English speaker talks, you’re noting English and producing your other language. A moment later it flips. Your NAATI CCL note taking system should work both ways, which is another reason to use language-neutral symbols like arrows and crosses wherever you can.

Here’s a quick example in Urdu, though the idea is identical in any language. The segment میں ہر دوسرے ہفتے جمعے کو کام کرتا ہوں، لیکن اتوار کو نہیں could be noted as “work Fri every 2 wk, ✗ Sun”. The symbols don’t care which language the speaker used.

Common NAATI CCL note taking mistakes

  • Writing too much. If your pen is still moving after the segment ends, you’ll blow the five-second window.
  • Writing too little on numbers. Memory holds meaning well and numbers badly. Always note them.
  • Looking down the whole time. Listening comes first. Glance at the page; don’t stare at it.
  • Inventing new symbols on the day. Only use symbols you’ve practised for weeks.
  • Reading notes out word by word. Notes are prompts. Rebuild natural sentences from them.

Every one of these ends in lost accuracy or delivery marks. Our NAATI CCL pass mark guide explains how those deductions add up, and How to Score Higher in the NAATI CCL Test covers memory habits in more depth.

Try NAATI CCL Practice Test 8: Household Bill & Community Centre

Practise NAATI CCL note taking under real conditions

The only way to know if your system works is to use it at test speed. Our practice tests follow the real format, with two timed dialogues, segments that play once and recorded answers. A human marker scores you out of 90 and points out omissions, which is exactly where note taking helps. Feedback comes in about three days. Tests are currently in English–Urdu, with more languages on the way.

Credits are $35 for one test, $140 for five and $227.50 for ten (AUD) on the CCL credits page. See our terms and conditions and read more about us.

Related guides: the NAATI CCL test format, NAATI CCL vocabulary by topic, and NAATI CCL test booking. Urdu speakers can also read our NAATI CCL Urdu guide.

NAATI CCL note taking FAQ

Is NAATI CCL note taking compulsory?

No. Notes are allowed, not required. Some candidates with strong short-term memory only jot numbers. Find what works for you in practice.

Can I use a notebook instead of loose paper?

NAATI’s instructions refer to loose sheets of paper. Stick to that so there’s no doubt on the day.

Which language should my notes be in?

Whichever is fastest for you. Examiners mark your spoken interpreting, not your notes.

How many sheets of paper should I have?

NAATI doesn’t set a number. Having several blank sheets within easy reach means you can start each dialogue on a fresh page without scrambling.

Can I write notes before the test starts?

No. Your paper must be blank, and you can’t bring existing notes. Writing a symbol key in advance counts as existing notes.

Keep it short, keep it yours

NAATI CCL note taking isn’t about perfect shorthand. It’s about catching numbers, names and negatives so your memory can do the rest. Try your system on a full timed test this week.

Practise with a timed NAATI CCL test
NAATI CCL Vocabulary: The Australian Words That Cost Candidates Marks
NAATI CCL Rules: What You Can and Can't Do on Test Day