English Speaking Practice: Exercises by Level

Read aloud and role-play by level

Each level has a text and a dialogue with a trainer. For the text, listen to the model reading at normal or slow speed, then record yourself: the trainer shows your pace in words per minute, the share of words it recognized and the words to repeat. For the dialogue, listen to the whole exchange, choose a role and say your lines while the trainer reads your partner’s. For a harder round, hide your lines and say them from memory.

Not sure of your level? The English level test in the section below estimates it in a few minutes.

A2: everyday situations

Short sentences in the present and past, questions you ask every day and clear word endings.

• Listen for: moved is one syllable, and Can I have runs together as one sound group.
• Make it yours: describe your own home with three details, then order your usual drink and something to eat.
• More at A2: eight A1–A2 texts in beginner speaking practice texts and seven A1–A2 dialogues in English conversation for beginners.

B1: work and plans

Answers longer than one sentence, polite requests and small talk that keeps going.

• Listen for: the stress in BUDget, QUARter and SPREADsheet, and how short the small-talk answers are: Pretty quiet, actually.
• Make it yours: ask for help with something from your own week, then play Lena and talk about your own weekend.
• More at B1: intermediate speaking practice texts and intermediate English conversations.

B2: problems and opinions

Explaining a problem with the details in order, disagreeing politely and offering an alternative.

• Listen for: the contrast in once on the THIRD and again on the FIFTH, and the softeners I see why, but and That’s fair.
• Make it yours: report a real problem with a bill or an order, then disagree with a plan at your work and propose a smaller first step.
• More at B2: B2 dialogues, advanced English conversation for C1 and phrases for meetings in business English conversation.

Answer one question for a minute

1. Pick a question and think for ten seconds, no longer.
2. Record your answer on your phone and keep talking for a full minute.
3. Listen back once and choose one thing to fix: a missing word, a long pause or a repeated mistake.
4. Answer the same question again with that fix.

The conversation question generator gives 142 more questions by topic and difficulty, and English conversation topics groups them by situation.

Shadow a native speaker

Take a 20-second clip from a podcast or a video with subtitles. Listen once, then speak along with it half a second behind, copying the stress, the pauses and the speed. Record one round and compare it with the original. The shadowing guide has the step-by-step method and how to choose material for your level.

Rehearse an interview answer

The mock interview runs in the browser: choose screening, behavioral or job-specific questions and answer out loud. After each answer you see its length, your pace and filler words, with a coach’s note. Typical questions and sample answers are in English for job interviews.

Check your level and keep the habit

• English level test: 18 grammar, vocabulary and usage questions and a CEFR estimate from A1 to C2, in the browser, without an account.
• English speaking test: about four minutes of spoken answers in the Fluently app, scored on pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary and grammar. Free to take.

Three exercises a day make a session of about 15 minutes: a text or a dialogue, a one-minute answer and a short shadowing round. The daily English speaking practice routine sets the order and a weekly plan.

Free official resources for speaking practice

• British Council LearnEnglish: Speaking. Self-study lessons from A1 to B2 with videos of conversations at work and interactive exercises for the phrases in them.
• Speak & Improve. A free research project from the University of Cambridge: answer questions out loud, get an automatic grade on the CEFR scale in seconds, then listen to your answer and try again.
• BBC Learning English: 6 Minute English. A new six-minute episode every week built on BBC radio extracts, with the key vocabulary explained. A minute of it makes good shadowing material.
• Cambridge Dictionary. UK and US audio for each word. Check a word you are not sure how to say before you record yourself.
• CEFR self-assessment grid. The Council of Europe’s official descriptions of spoken interaction and spoken production at each level, A1 to C2, to see what the next level asks of you.

When you need a partner who talks back

The exercises above check your words against a script. Free conversation is different: someone has to answer, ask a follow-up question and catch the mistake while you are still talking. That is what the Fluently app does.

• Spoken conversation. You talk out loud, and the AI tutor answers, asks follow-up questions and keeps the topic going.
• Corrections in the moment. A grammar slip or an unnatural phrase gets a short correction card during the conversation.
• Pronunciation. The tutor points out words that were hard to understand during the call, and drills score English sounds one by one.
• A starting score. A short spoken assessment scores your pronunciation, fluency, vocabulary and grammar before the first conversation.

Installing the app and the speaking assessment are free. Regular practice with the tutor is part of a Fluently subscription; when a trial is available, the app shows it before you pay.