How to Practice
Preparing to Speak
The only way you're ever going to get good at speaking is by doing it. Luckily, doing just that is easier than you think. Below are some things you can do to get speaking today.
How to speak every day
Record yourself
Most people think we need to have conversations in order to improve. That’s simply not true. A great way to improve fluency is by recording yourself.
You can record yourself talking about anything. The easiest thing is to choose a question, however. You could:
Respond to old exam questions you find online.
Respond to the Daily Speaking Prompts I share every day.
The key is to talk about a variety of subjects - not just things you are familiar with, since on the exam you’ll have to talk about a variety of things. Making recordings will let you see where your shortfalls are, in terms of grammar and vocabulary.
Read more about how to do this here.
Tips:
You can make a few notes at first, if needed.
If you’re struggling to fill the time, use the strategies I shared on this website about expanding on answers and adding responses.
Listen to yourself and notice your errors. This is crucial. Most speakers are unaware of their errors because they’ve never listened to themselves.
Try saying your answer a few times, improving on the previous recording - but don’t obsess. Personally, I find that 3 times is a good number. Anything over that, and I begin to lose fluency because I’m thinking too much about errors and self-correction.
Try talking about the same subject the following day. You’ll find it’s much easier the next day and this is a good way to review what you’ve learnt.
If you have friends, send the recording to them for feedback.
Feel free to return to old topics after a while. You’ll be amazed how much easier it is to talk about something after a few weeks.
Do a language exchange
Language exchanges are really popular. Typically, you find a native speaker who wants to learn your language (in this case, they'd be an English speaker) and then you would help each other. One popular thing is to chat and correct each other's writing. Another popular thing is to have phone calls where you spend half the time talking in one language (English in this case) and the other half of the time talking in your native language.
Language exchanges are a great way to practice Part 1 questions since those questions will be about your every-day life. They can also be very helpful for improve your writing if you find someone who's interested in writing and correcting your texts.
Some things to keep in mind:
Don't expect a native speaker to be able to explain how grammar works or why they said something instead of something else. They will most-likely only be able to tell you what “sounds right”.
Most native English speakers have no idea about different tenses or any of the rules you’ve studied as a student so don’t expect them to actually teach you.
They may tell you things which contradict what you've been taught, so try not to let it stress you out too much. Remember, every person has a very unique way of expressing themselves. Furthermore, there are a lot of different varieties of English all around the world, and grammar and vocabulary will differ from place to place.
Language exchanges usually work best if both people have similar levels but it might be hard for you to find someone who matches your level. In this case, consider “teaching” or at least tutoring your language. You will probably have to do it in English which will be a great opportunity for you to practice.
At the time of this post (early 2023), there are not a lot of great places to find language exchange partners. These are the best places I know of:
Talk with other students at your level
This is a great idea especially since you will need to interact with another student during the Speaking paper.
Places to find students at your level:
Locally through universities, libraries, or language practice groups
Facebook or other social media groups
Discord. Check out the Get Speaking English Discord server. Use the forums to find partners to practice with and then use the practice rooms. There are also materials and discussion questions you can use to practice with.
Pay a tutor or teacher
If you’re reading this website, you’re probably already working with me, but if not, working with a tutor or teacher can be an efficient way to improve and it's well worth the investment.
What's the difference?
Teachers are usually better-equipped to teach; they probably have a lot of resources available to impart knowledge, and help you learn concepts. They often teach groups of students but sometimes they teach one on one.
Tutors usually work one on one with a student and help them with questions about their current studies.
Either way, a good tutor or teacher will:
have ideas about how to help you and be able to give you feedback about how to improve.
be able to explain grammar or language-related things to you, which the average native speaker cannot do.
be more inclined to talk about “serious” subjects like the ones which will come up on your exam. A partner may not always be willing to do this. For example, a partner might be reluctant to talk about global warming or social issues like the ones you'll discuss on an exam.
be willing to help you practice specific parts of your exam.
show up. One of the biggest problems I’ve had with language partners is that they often are either really late or never show up at all. If you pay someone, they will be more likely to show up and be respectful of your time. Similarly, you should also be respectful and show up to any appointments you make, and/or give advanced notice when cancelling. Also, if you are unable to make an appointment without giving reasonable notice, please pay the full fee of the class without complaining.
Other things that improve speaking
Reading Out Loud - Reading out loud is a great way to not only improve your speaking, but also your listening skills and grammar. Don't forget to use websites like forvo.com or youglish.com if you have doubts about your pronunciation.
Talking to yourself - You dont need to actually have a conversation to improve your speaking. Talking to yourself will also help immensely. For ideas, consider:
narrating what you're doing right now
talking about your day
verbally responding to something you've just read or heard
verbally paraphrasing or summarizing something you've just read or heard
counting (and I don't just mean 1 2 3 4 5 but in multiples of 4, 5, 7, 8, or backwards) and / or reading numbers out loud. It's harder for our brains to work with numbers in a second language but doing exercises like these will help you a lot
With Online Apps - Apps such as HiNative, HelloTalk, and iTalki let you upload short recordings to a community of other learners for feedback and corrections.
Do a Speaking Challenge - When I started learning, I participated in the 30-Day Speaking Challenge and I found it to be extremely helpful. Not only was it great having people to hold me accountable when studying, but I also received helpful feedback on my recordings. This challenge is no longer free (I believe it's $10 USD per month), but it's a opportunity to get feedback on your speaking from volunteers. The organizer of this challenge provides some questions or topics every day and your task is to create and submit a 2-minute recording to the group. One of the other learners will listen and give you feedback on your speaking. You will also be expected to give feedback to others who are learning your native language.
Sign-up happens towards the end of each month. For more information, check out the website here.
You can still do your own speaking challenge. I share a daily speaking prompt every day on social media (Telegra, Instagram and Facebook) so students can still do a similar activity, regardless of their economic situation.
Shadowing - Shadowing is when you take a recording of a speaker whose accent you like, and then practice saying what they say, mimicking their accent, tone, and speed. Shadowing like this is not a good use of time for intermediate-level students, however it can be really great for advanced-level learners. It can help improve your accent or work on connected speech. Also, at a C1+ level, it's important to paying attention to details such as word stress and sentence stress, so it will help you in this area as well.