12 Best English Speaking Apps in 2024

Using mobile apps is a fun and effective way to learn a new language. They’re easily accessible, convenient and—most importantly—enjoyable and motivating.

We’ve gathered the 12 best English speaking apps out there to help you improve your accent and speak more naturally. These apps will help you confidently speak English in no time.

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1. Best for Real-time Feedback: ELSA

Website | iOS | Android

Cost: Free; Pro subscription for $11.83/month, Premium subscription for $14.17/month

ELSA—which stands for English Language Speech Assistant—is an interactive speaking app that helps you speak English better by fixing errors in your pronunciation.

ELSA gives you common words and phrases to record, then teaches you the specific syllables and sounds you’re having trouble with.The app also lets you participate in AI-generated conversations, role-playing various situations like planning a holiday. You’ll be given various tasks to complete and receive feedback in real-time.

ELSA’s program was designed by expert speech and communication coaches. You can watch the app in action in this video:

2. Best for Immersive Learning: FluentU

Website | iOS | Android 

Cost: Monthly subscription; free trial available

FluentU teaches English by immersing you in videos that demonstrate how native speakers use the language in their own media. These clips include music videos, news clips and movie trailers.

This authentic content teaches you English the way it’s spoken by native speakers, rather than the stiff, formal English you’d learn from traditional sources. And unlike other sources of English videos, FluentU has language learning tools that make it easier to understand words and phrases you haven’t heard before.

The videos on FluentU all have interactive subtitles that let you click words for a translation, example sentences and a pronunciation guide. This way, you’ll understand more of what you hear. The videos will not only teach you how native English sounds but how phrases are used in different contexts.

FluentU also has personalized quizzes that let you practice what you learn from the videos. In the app version, the quizzes have speaking questions that let you practice your English pronunciation with your device’s microphone. Simply speak your answer into your device and FluentU’s speech recognition program will let you know if your pronunciation is accurate.

3. Best for Quizzed Learning: TalkEnglish

Website | iOS | Android

Cost: Free; $4.99 for ad-free version

If you like being quizzed, the English Speaking Practice app by TalkEnglish has hundreds of interactive practice exercises.

You can choose from different conversation topics such as “Catching up with a Friend” and “A Ride to the Airport.” Once you finish listening to the conversation, you’ll be quizzed to make sure you understood it.Then, you can choose who you want to be in the conversation and practice speaking by recording yourself saying that character’s dialogue.  

For a more advanced version of this app, check out TalkEnglish’s English Conversation Practice app for iOS or Android devices.

4. Best for Variety of Content: VOA Learning English

Website | iOS | Android 

Cost: Free; $4.99 for ad-free version

This app offers video lessons, speaking practice, news articles with audio recordings by native English speakers and much more.

The video lessons are particularly great for practicing natural English, as they’re paused to let you repeat the phrases and participate in the dialogue between two people. The app uses easy vocabulary and the speakers talk slowly so you can understand everything. You can easily repeat difficult sections if you get confused. 

Topics include business, news, history, the environment and much more. You’ll learn English while becoming informed about what’s happening in the world!

5. Best for Language Exchange: HelloTalk

Website | iOS | Android

Cost: Free; VIP subscription for $12.99/month, $79.99/year or $179.99 lifetime

HelloTalk can find you a language exchange partner for free! This means you’ll find an English speaker who wants to learn your native language and you’ll help each other.

HelloTalk is one of the most popular language exchange apps with users from all over the world. You can choose who to chat with based on where they’re from and their interests. 

Once you find a partner, you can send text, audio or video messages, or have video calls for live speaking practice. The app can even catch grammatical mistakes in your message before you send it.Read our full review of HelloTalk here.

6. Best for Lessons with a Tutor: Cambly

Website | iOS | Android

Cost: $27-36/month for weekly group lessons, $44-120/month for private lessons

Cambly connects you with a native English tutor for private or group English lessons and speaking practice. 

You can choose your tutor based on when they’re available and their English specialties. Then you can schedule a lesson for up to an hour. Your tutor will help you with what you want to practice, whether that’s grammar, pronunciation or just speaking practice to build confidence.Besides video lessons, Cambly also has guided courses that focus on specific English skills, such as business or academic English.

7. Best for Scripted Conversations: SpeakingPal

Website | iOS | Android

Cost: Free; Premium version for $12.99/month, $24.99 for 6 months or $49.99/year

If you’re shy about practicing English with a stranger, SpeakingPal can help. The app lets you have scripted conversations with a video character.

The app uses speech recognition technology, which is great for learning because it gives you instant feedback. SpeakingPal will listen to your voice and immediately let you know how your pronunciation is.There are translations for the scripts so that you can learn vocabulary and phrases at the same time. You’ll also get some extras, like quizzes and short video lessons. 

SpeakingPal keeps track of your progress, so you can easily tell how much you’ve improved. See how it works:

8. Best for Pronunciation Reference: Forvo

Website | iOS | Android

Cost: $2.99

Forvo lets you listen to words and phrases in over 100 languages. All the pronunciations are provided by real native speakers from around the world. You can even upload your own pronunciation of a word in your native language!

The pronunciations are rated by other users, so you can easily find the most reliable audio clips when looking up English words. Play the audio then repeat it to match the native speaker’s pronunciation.With Forvo, you can listen to male and female voices or hear the unique accents of English speakers from America, Europe and elsewhere.

9. Best for the Basics: Speak English Fluently

Android

Cost: Free with in-app purchases

This app lets you work on your beginner and intermediate English conversation skills. It offers many quick sample dialogues you can expect to hear or have in everyday life.

Narrated by American English speakers, the scripts sound natural and casual. Besides the dialogues, you also get a list of common sentences and vocabulary.

To practice speaking, you can record your voice as you read the transcripts or sentences, and the app will compare your version to the original.The app also has mini-lessons about idioms, common phrasal verbs and irregular verbs—all things that language learners can find confusing.

10. Best for Perfecting Your Accent: Accent Training

iOS

Cost: Free; $4.99 for ad-free version

This app lets you practice your American accent and pronunciation with short scripts on everyday topics.

For each script, you can listen to a native speaker read out the text, and follow every word the speaker says.

Once you hear how everything sounds, you can record yourself saying the same script, and then compare your version to the original. It’s a quick way to check your pronunciation and find out your speaking strengths and weaknesses.There are also a few exercises to help you practice specific English sounds, including some of the most difficult ones!

11. Best AI-Based App: Learn & Speak English Praktika

Website | Android

Cost: Free with in-app purchases 

Praktika is an innovative language-learning app that uses realistic AI Avatars as your speaking partners. The Avatars have different accents, backgrounds and personalities so you can get realistic, varied practice.

You’ll get instant feedback and personalized guidance without having to deal with the anxiety of talking with a real person.The app offers over 1000 lessons from beginner to advanced on a wide variety of topics such as fashion, tourism and science. If you’re preparing for the IELTS or TOEFL exam, the app’s got you covered as well. 

12. Best for Real-time Practice: iTranslate Converse

Website | iOS

Cost: Free; Pro version for $7.99/month or $69.99/year

iTranslate Converse lets you hear and repeat correct English pronunciations of any words or phrases you want.

How? The app turns your iPhone into a speech translation device. Just hold the screen while speaking in your native language and then let go to hear the English translation. You can create collections of words to practice later. Whenever you’re unsure how to pronounce something, you can just translate, listen and then imitate iTranslate Converse’s pronunciation.

Converse will help you become more comfortable speaking English. Practicing on your own will give you the confidence you need to speak with natives and sound more natural!

 

Now you have some of the best English speaking apps that’ll help boost your pronunciation and conversational skills.

Download a good English dictionary app, too, to round out your English learning toolkit!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)