Taking English classes isn’t enough for someone to truly become fluent in English. Students need to find speaking opportunities outside of the classroom. One way to get English speaking practice is by interacting with other students and native speakers online. The websites below all offer free online speaking practice.
busuu.com
Busuu is an extremely popular site for free English practice. The best part about the site is being able to connect with other people and practice English by speaking or chatting. Users can also create a friends list and join groups. Because of the site’s popularity, there are thousands of groups and always many people online. It’s easy to find conversation partners of all levels.
Speaking24.com
Speaking24.com allows members to practice both speaking and chatting. Users create an account by filling out some basic information (age, country, current English level, Skype name, etc.). Once an account is created, the user can connect with other members online. On the homepage is a list of online members along with their English levels. These people can be contacted via Skype for conversation practice.
One particularly great feature of Speaking24 is that members can speak to people with similar goals. For example, someone studying for the TOIEC can find conversation partners who are also studying for the test.
Speak-English-Today.com
Speak English Today is another great resource for free English speaking practice. It’s similar to speaking24.com, but does not have as many users. Users create a profile and then connect with English learners from around the world. Additionally, Speak English Today offers paid tutoring services.
One nice feature of Speak English Today is that the site has sample conversation topics which include vocabulary and conversation tips.
livemocha.com
With the other websites on this list, users can create an account and immediately find conversation partners. With livemocha, users must complete online courses before gaining access to conversation partners. Also, users are required to help people studying their native language. However, for students looking for online lessons as well as speaking practice, livemocha is an excellent choice.