Practising speaking outside the classroom

You can help your child improve their English by giving them lots of opportunities to speak in English. It helps enormously to have regular, real reasons for using English. This will help your child to feel more confident and prepared for their English exams.

We know it can be tricky to find speaking opportunities and support outside the classroom. So here are some ideas you can try at home.

Play games

Your child and their friends could agree to have set times when they speak only in English. Even just one minute of regular, everyday speaking practice will build confidence. To make it more fun, they could use this time to play speaking games. For example, 20 questions (player 1 thinks of something and the other players can ask up to 20 questions to try and guess what it is).

Learning tip
Play the game ‘I packed my school bag’. It’s a good way to practise vocabulary. It works best with a small group.

The first player says the first line and adds an item. For example: ‘I packed my school bag and I took a ... cake.’ The second player repeats and adds another item: ‘I packed my school bag and I took a cake and an orange.’ Keep taking turns (repeating and adding items) until someone makes a mistake or forgets a word.

You can practise this with lots of different types of vocabulary. For example: 

• shopping (I went to the shops and I bought …)
• animals (I went to the zoo and I saw …) 
• hobbies (At the weekend I like to …).

Video demonstration

Sing

Singing is a great way to improve lots of different speaking skills. It will help your child learn pronunciation, the rhythm of a language and produce natural-sounding, connected speech.

Our Sing and Learn activities are an ideal way for young learners to learn, remember and use new language.

Learning tip
There are lots of fun learning tips and activities in our article: Learn English through songs.

Drama and roleplay

Drama helps children use English in all kinds of ways. It can be a great source of motivation and confidence – even very young children love imaginary play.

Learning tip for 5–12 year olds
Many young children love role playing – also known in English as ‘make believe’. This involves acting out a role or character, for example ‘doctors and nurses’.

Children often enjoy using props to make their pretend play more realistic. For example, using plates, cutlery and an apron for a café/restaurant.

Practise useful vocabulary with your child, using our free picture books for:

• Pre A1 Starters:
  • At the zoo (pages 6–7). They can pretend to be a zookeeper.
  • At the clothes shop (pages 8–9). They can pretend to be a shop assistant.
  • My favourite food (pages 12–13). They can pretend to take an order in a restaurant.
• A1 Movers:
  • At the doctor’s (pages 10–11). They can pretend to be a doctor or nurse.
  • The weather (pages 16–17). They can pretend to be a weather forecaster.
  • Our town (pages 18–19). They can pretend to be a town planner.
• A2 Flyers:
  • Flyers fun day (pages 8–9). They can pretend to be a journalist.
  • Flyers party (pages 12–13). They can pretend to be a party planner.
  • Flyers adventure (pages 16–17). They can pretend to be a travel tour guide.

Learning tip for 13–18 year olds
Your child might enjoy taking part in a play or a performance. This can help a child to project their voice and say words clearly. As they learn and repeat their lines over a period of time, they will become more familiar with English phrases and say them with more confidence.

Read aloud

Learners often read silently and this is an important skill to practise. But also encourage your child to sometimes read aloud. It provides a regular way to practise pronunciation, word stress and intonation.

Learning tip
You can ask your child to record their voice (for example using the voice recorder on a mobile phone). Encourage them to notice how they speak and make corrections.

Meet English speakers

Being surrounded by the language is one of the best ways to improve your speaking skills. But never show disappointment if your child refuses to speak – being the centre of attention can be scary.

Learning tip
Focus on the fun ways to practise English. Children will be most motivated to use the language when an activity is interesting and meaningful for them. For example, they might enjoy taking part in children’s events, workshops and activities provided by museums, art galleries, libraries, tourist attractions and sports venues.

Free online learning activities

Encourage your child to try some of our fun learning activities, available on a computer or a tablet.

Learning tip for 5–12 year olds
Your child can practise their English with these fun learning activities and games.

Learning tip for 13–18 year olds
Encourage your child to try some of our free pronunciation activities and games.

Use technology

Children are using technology more and more. We know they will continue to encounter these digital tools. So try exploring them together and discussing whether they are useful and high quality.

Learning tip
Ask each family member to try one type of technology. For example:

• digital storytelling (record yourself telling a story)
• apps (search: ‘English speaking practice’)
• music videos with subtitles (try singing along!)
• recording your own videos (for example, act out a scene from your favourite film).

Ask each person to share what they’ve found with the rest of the family. Does it help their speaking skills? How much fun is it to use? Ask everyone to rate it out of 10. 

Practise English in your daily life

Regular practice really helps children to learn a language.

Learning tip for 5–12 year olds
Ask your child to tell you some of the things they see on car journeys. For example: ‘That car’s red!’, ‘I can see three buses!’ Accept mistakes. The important thing is for your child to say English words without worrying.

Learning tip for 13–18 year olds
What does your child love doing – sports, music, dancing, computing? In your local area, are there any clubs where English is spoken? Your child’s school might be willing to arrange an after-school club. Or you could start your own club with family and friends. For example, an English-language film club, book club or singing club.

Prepare for the Speaking test

In many of our Speaking tests, children are asked to speak about pictures. They are an excellent way to help children start talking about something.

Ask your child to find pictures of everyday scenes or family photographs and ask them to talk about them in English.

Learning tip for 5–12 year olds
In A1 Movers and A2 Flyers, children are told the name of the story and given time to look at some pictures. Then they’re asked to tell the story. This is something you can practise at home too.

Ask your child to find three or four pictures that interest them (for example, a simple cartoon strip). Give them some thinking time and ask them to look carefully at all the pictures. Can they tell a story using all the pictures?

Here’s another version of this activity. Hide some objects (for example, some small toys) in a bag. Ask your child to put their hand into the bag and guess what the objects are. Ask them to choose one or two objects and create a story around them.

Young learners only need to say a few words about each picture or object. Then, when they feel confident, encourage them to use words such as ‘and’, ‘but’ and ‘because’ to join their ideas together.

Learning tip for 13–18 year olds
Here’s a fun way to practise describing pictures. One person can see a picture and must describe it. The other person must listen and draw what is being described. At the end, compare the drawing with the original picture.

Test preparation resources

Your child will feel much more prepared and confident about their exam if they know exactly what they need to do. 

It’s really useful to do some practice exams. It will help your child to become more familiar and confident with the different types of tasks. Your child should be able to work their way through these with encouragement and careful guidance.

If your child is anxious about any of their English class-work, discuss it with your child’s teacher and ask them what you can work on at home.