7 strategies to improve your English speaking skills in 2025

87% of English learners never learn to speak English fluently. Overcoming the fear of speaking English might seem challenging and it might even feel impossible sometimes. However, with the right strategies and tools, you can learn to speak confidently without ever living in an English-speaking country. I’ll share 7 strategies and practical tips below to build you speaking confidence in 2025.

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1. How I learned to Speaking English by myself

2. Practice speaking every day for at least 5 minutes

3. Work on your pronunciation

4. Improve your vocabulary

5. Engage in active listening

6. Work on your grammar

7. Slow down

8. Start a social media channel

How I learned to speak English by myself without living in an English speaking country

Hi, I am Sherzod, the CEO of Heylama AI. I grew up in Tajikistan, a small Central Asian state, and started learning English at the age of 15. Growing up during and in the aftermath of a devastating civil war, I knew that learning English would open up many doors for me and give me access to learning, career and travel opportunities. I dreamed of living in the United States one day.

Unfortunately, there weren’t so many foreigners or English speakers in Tajikistan back then. I attended English classes but that wasn’t enough. There were no AI apps that I could use to practice back then either.

So I started speaking English by myself. Every day, I’d retell the day to myself. Out loud.

Whenever I couldn’t express something, I’d immediately stop and analyze why that happened.

1. Was it because I didn’t know how to pronounce it?
2. Was it because I didn’t know the right vocabulary?
3. Was it because I didn’t know how to say it grammatically?

Then I’d eliminate that problem by studying and solving that specific problem.

Within 90 days of starting this practice, I could already speak much better than anyone in my group at the language course. I was the best English language speaker in my high-school as well, even winning gold medals in local school competitions.

My pronunciation wasn’t perfect. My grammar wasn’t perfect. But I spoke English, people understood me and I understood them. I was fluent. You can be too. So let’s go into 7 practical tips you can start applying today to become fluent in 90 days.

#1. Practice speaking every day for at least 5 minutes

Here is a fact that many learners ignore. Speaking English is a skill you need to train. Many learners improve their grammar, vocabulary and listening hoping that it would enable them to speak better. The harsh truth is that speaking fluency isn’t the outcome of mastering those skills, it’s a separate skill you must practice

So you must commit to speaking English every day at least for 5 minutes. And when I say speaking, I don’t mean in your head. I mean speaking English out loud. Here is how you can make it work:

Option 1. Private tutors

If you can afford it, get a native tutor on platforms like iTalki and Preply. A great native tutor would cost between $15 and $30 per lesson. Daily lessons would be too much though, unless you’re preparing for TOEFL or IELTS. Once a week is usually the best frequency in my experience.

Option 2. Download Heylama AI to practice speaking daily with our AI tutor. 

Speak with Heylama AI for 5-10 minutes a day. For example, tell the AI about your day or discuss anything you find interesting. The AI will give you real-time grammar feedback and help you practice.

A mind-blowing new feature is to build your own custom role-play games with AI! Imagine being able to practice ANY situation. Just set the AI role such as a waiter or job interviewer and clarify the situation such as ordering at a restaurant or getting a job and you’re ready to play!

Option 3. Tandem exchanges

You can use apps like HelloTalk or Tandem to find someone learning your native language and practice with them. The downside is that you’d need to also teach them your language which takes time. However, it’s a fun way to meet new people and help others learn your native language.

#2. Work on your pronunciation

If you have a strong accent and you feel insecure because of that, it is helpful to work on your pronunciation.

Paying attention to the sounds and rhythm of the English language can help you improve your pronunciation and make your speech clearer and more understandable to others. 

I wrote a practical guide on how to improve your English pronunciation fast, make sure to check it out. Here are few practical tips for now:

1. Daily ‘Listen and Repeat’ exercise. Find an English YouTube video, maybe a snipper of an episode from Friends. Listen to a single sentence or part of a sentence. Pause the video and repeat, trying to 100% imitate what the actor said. Repeat the same chunk at least 10 times.
2. Practice tongue twisters. Tongue twisters are a great way to address specific pronunciation issues you might have. For example, if you struggle with the sound “TH” or properly pronouncing “S” and “SH”, tongue twisters can be a great practice
3. Finally, if you’re advanced enough, you could also hire an accent coach. Those are quite expensive, but are quite effective in helping you sound more like natives.

I also highly recommend to start watching these two fantastic YouTube channels:

1. Accent's way - English with Hadar
2. Rachel's English

#3. Improve your vocabulary

If you want to be fluent and eloquent, you should learn new, relevant words every day. Building a larger vocabulary will help you express your thoughts more precisely. Here is the most effective method to master 300+ words every month.

Step 1. Use Heylama AI’s free vocabulary learning feature. The vocabulary feature is free of charge, you don’t have to subscribe to use it.

Heylama app has an integrated spaced repetition feature. Spaced repetition is a scientifically proven method for long-term memorization and memory retention. Read more about it in my article here.

Step 2. Start adding 10 new words to Heylama every day. If you have a premium account, the AI will automatically suggest relevant words based on your conversations as well.

Don’t add random words. Only add words that you need now, at this stage of your English learning process.

Step 3. Use the app’s built-in vocab review and practice feature everyday for at least 5 minutes.

That’s it - you’ll master hundreds of new words every month by following this simple process.

#4. Engage in active listening:

Speaking effectively isn’t only about speaking to others but also understanding what others are saying to you. Part of the reason why you can’t quickly formulate a reply is because you’re trying hard to understand the other person and the nerves get in the way of producing an answer.

Here is a simple method to improve your active listening skills:

1. Find a podcast that you find interesting. For example, I love listening to the Huberman Lab Podcast.
2. Listen attentively and any time you don’t understand something, pause and re-listen.
3. If you came across a phrase or word you don’t know, translate it and save it to your Heylama AI vocab list
4. Do it for at least 5 minutes a day. 
5. Bonus: try to listen to different podcasts with speakers with different accents and rate of speech.

#5. Work on your grammar

Grammatical mistakes should never be the reason why you don't speak English. This is how all language learners start. We make mistakes and it’s fine.

That said, if you want to take your English speaking skills to the next level, good grammar is helpful for clear and effective communication. When you speak with correct grammar, it is easier for listeners to understand and follow your message.

To improve your understanding of grammar, you can try the following strategies:

• Improve your grammar with AI: Heylama’s AI tutor gives real-time grammar feedback during your practice chat. The app saves all your grammar mistakes and tips in the grammar section for you to review later.
• Study English grammar rules you’re not comfortable with: there are tons of PDF and online resources that can help you to learn the rules of English grammar. I also wrote a post with a list of 21 best free online resources to improve your command of English grammar.
• Pay attention to how native speakers use grammar when they speak (in the movies, YouTube videos, shows, etc.). This can help you understand how grammar is used in real-life situations and improve your use of grammar.

#6. Slow down

Don't try to speak fast. If you talk too quickly, it can be difficult for listeners to understand you. Practice speaking at a slower pace, and focus on enunciating each word clearly before adding pace to your speech. Being understood is far more important for you as an English language learner.

#7. Start a social media channel

One amazing way to start speaking English daily is to start a TikTok or Instagram account and publish daily 1 minute videos of you speaking English. Don’t do it for views, do it for consistent practice. Ask your friends to like your videos and leave comments to stay motivated!

Remember, consistent practice and a positive mindset are the keys to speaking English fluently. You got this!