Duolingo isn’t helping me speak. What app should I use?

Add speaking practice rather than swapping one course app for another. You need two things a lesson app gives you little of: time spent talking, and feedback on how you sound. For talking, use an AI conversation app such as Speak or Praktika, Duolingo Max’s Video Call, or a tutor on italki. For feedback, use a tool that scores your pronunciation sound by sound, such as TonePerfect in eight languages, or ELSA Speak or BoldVoice for English. Fifteen minutes a day of both does more for speaking than another hour of lessons.

Facts checked · Sources

Facts (checked 30 October 2026)

  • Duolingo Max subscribers get Video Call, a real-time speaking practice feature, in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Korean and Chinese (Duolingo, 14 January 2026).
  • Speak teaches Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese, Italian and Chinese to English speakers, with an AI tutor and real-time pronunciation feedback; it offers a 7-day free trial, then a subscription.
  • Praktika is an AI-tutor conversation app for iOS and Android; tapping “?” on a message you said gives an overall and a per-word score.
  • italki lists tutors in 150+ languages; teachers set their own prices and lessons are pay as you go.
  • TonePerfect scores pronunciation in 8 languages: Mandarin Chinese, English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Japanese and Korean.
  • Each recording gets a score for the whole take, for each word and for each sound; in Mandarin the tone of each syllable is scored separately from its initial and final.

Why speaking lags behind

Speaking is two skills at once: finding the words fast enough, and producing sounds a listener understands. Lessons that you answer by tapping, typing or repeating a short phrase train recognition well, but the first skill needs minutes of real talking, and the second needs someone, or something, to tell you which sound is off.

So the fix is not a better course. It is adding a conversation habit and a feedback loop next to whatever course keeps you coming back.

Pick one of each

  • To make you talk: an AI conversation app

    Speak (structured speaking lessons and an AI tutor, six languages for English speakers), Praktika (open conversations with AI tutors, with corrections on pronunciation, grammar and word choice) or Duolingo Max’s Video Call if you already pay for Max. Available any time, no scheduling, no embarrassment.

  • To make you talk: a person

    A tutor on a marketplace such as italki, where teachers set their own prices and you pay per lesson, or a language exchange. Slower to arrange, but nothing replaces a real listener for conversation.

  • To check how you sound: pronunciation scoring

    TonePerfect scores every word and every sound you say in eight languages, Mandarin tones included, with free browser tests and no account. For English only, ELSA Speak and BoldVoice give sound-level feedback. For a human ear, Speechling’s coaches reply to your recordings within 24 hours.

A 15-minute daily routine

  1. Keep your course lesson if you enjoy it: it is your vocabulary.
  2. Five minutes: say the lesson’s sentences out loud and get them scored. Fix the lowest-scoring sound, then say the sentence again.
  3. Ten minutes: a conversation, with an AI tutor or a person, using those same words.
  4. Once a week: record the same short passage and compare it with last week’s.

To score your own sentences, use the sentence checker for English, Spanish, French or any of the eight languages. For the method behind it, see how to improve your pronunciation.

FAQ

Duolingo isn’t helping me speak. What app should I use?

Add two kinds of practice instead of switching courses: a conversation app or tutor that makes you talk (Speak, Praktika, Duolingo Max’s Video Call or an italki tutor), and a pronunciation scorer that tells you which sound to fix (TonePerfect in eight languages; ELSA Speak or BoldVoice for English). Fifteen minutes a day of both is enough to notice a difference.

Does Duolingo have speaking practice?

Yes. Lessons include speaking exercises, and Duolingo Max subscribers get Video Call, real-time speaking practice in nine languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, German, Italian, Korean and Chinese), according to Duolingo’s January 2026 announcement.

Speak or Praktika?

Speak is built around structured speaking lessons with an AI tutor, for six languages if you speak English. Praktika is built around open conversations with AI tutors and gives a per-word score on what you said. Both run on iOS and Android; try each before you pay.

Do I still need pronunciation practice if I use a conversation app?

Usually, yes. Conversation apps focus on getting you talking and on grammar and word choice. A pronunciation scorer goes sound by sound, so it catches the vowel or consonant a friendly conversation partner lets slide.

What is the cheapest way to practise speaking?

Free options: TonePerfect’s browser tests and checkers (a few scored takes a day, no account), Speechling’s free plan, shadowing native audio out loud, and a language exchange. Paid conversation apps and tutors add more talking time.

Sources

Written by TonePerfect, which makes one of the apps on this page. We are not affiliated with Duolingo or any other product here, and nobody paid to be listed. Each product is described only with what its own pages said on the date above.