The Way I Use ChatGPT to Practice English Speaking Alone

I live in a country where English isn’t used professionally in everyday life, so finding ways to improve my speaking skills has always been tough.

But when it comes to applying for jobs or schools, I often need to take English speaking tests like OPIC, IELTS, or TOEIC Speaking — and that’s where things get stressful.

That’s why I recently started looking into ChatGPT speaking practice — and it’s made a surprising difference.

Spoiler First: I Ended Up Using an App Called Daily Speak

Before I go any further, I just want to be transparent — these days, I use an app called Daily Speak to help me practice speaking English.

This post isn’t an app promotion.

Actually, I built Daily Speak myself, based on the way I was practicing with ChatGPT.

I’ll talk more about why I created and now use it later, but I wanted to say that upfront so it doesn’t feel like a surprise twist at the end.

Now, let me share how it all started — with just me, my phone, and ChatGPT.

Why Practicing with ChatGPT Just Worked for Me

Like any speaking test, what I really needed was this: an random question, my answer in English, and then immediate feedback and correction.

That exact sequence. I needed to simulate the pressure of the real thing—but do it on my own.

That’s where ChatGPT 4o surprised me.

It already understands tests like IELTS, OPIc, and TOEIC so well that I didn’t have to explain anything.

I just mentioned the test I was preparing for, and it knew exactly how to respond.

What made it even more powerful was the conversation flow.

I could speak naturally—just like in an interview—and it would evaluate my answer right away.

It pointed out my grammar slips, suggested more natural phrasing, and even gave me a sense of what score I might get.

So, I made it a habit. Most evenings, I sat in my room, opened ChatGPT on my phone, and practiced.

Just me and the model. No tutor, no scheduling. And that consistency paid off more than I expected.

But, Why I Couldn’t Stick to ChatGPT Speaking Practice

At first, practicing English speaking with ChatGPT felt like the perfect solution.

It was easy, fast, and I could practice anytime on my phone.

But after a few days, I started to feel something wasn’t working.

• ChatGPT jumped in too quickly.
  Whenever I paused to think, it answered for me. It didn’t give me space to finish my thoughts.
• It talked more than I did.
  I wanted to practice speaking, but most of the time I ended up listening to long replies.
• Feedback felt too nice.
  No matter what I said, it always praised me. It was hard to tell if I was really improving.
• It just kept asking questions.
  The conversation didn’t build. It felt like an endless loop with no real progress.

These weren’t huge problems at first, but they added up.

I realized that if I wanted to seriously prepare for a speaking test, I needed more structure and better balance.

That’s why I started using Daily Speak — a tool that keeps the good parts of ChatGPT, but solves the problems that made me stop.

How Daily Speak Fixed My ChatGPT Speaking Practice Problems

I started with ChatGPT speaking practice and it was great — at first.

But over time, I realized I needed something more tailored — so I ended up building my own app: Daily Speak.

It’s not that ChatGPT was bad, but Daily Speak had small features I really needed, and they made a big difference for my practice.

It shows some ads, but being free makes it totally worth it for me.

Here’s what stood out:

1. I could talk for up to 3 minutes — and stop when I felt ready.
   That freedom helped me practice longer, without pressure.
2. If I didn’t like my answer, I could just record it again.
   Simple, but it made me try harder and speak more clearly.
3. Listening to my own answers was a game-changer.
   Hearing myself helped me notice small habits I needed to fix — things I wouldn’t have caught otherwise.
4. Instead of just a score, I got real suggestions.
   It told me what to work on next, based on what I actually said.
5. I could repeat familiar questions or get random ones, and even choose the category I wanted to practice.
   That made it feel closer to the actual speaking test I was preparing for.
6. I could review past answers easily, whenever I needed to.
   That made it really convenient to reflect and improve without starting from scratch.

So even though I began with ChatGPT,
Daily Speak — the app I built for myself — became my go-to for focused English speaking practice, especially for interview-style tests like OPIc or IELTS.

And honestly, the fact that I didn’t even need to sign up or log in to get started made it even easier to stick with.

Even Daily Speak Has Room to Grow — But It’s Worth It

Of course, Daily Speak isn’t perfect either. I’m the first to admit that.

There’s definitely room for improvement — the question pool could be more diverse, and it would be great if it also gave tips on how to improve your speaking overall, not just feedback on what you said.

Since it’s AI-based, sometimes the feedback feels a bit too formal or academic — more written than spoken.

And yeah, it’s a free app, so you’ll have to watch an ad or two.

But for me, the ads only show while I’m waiting for feedback, so it’s never really been an issue.

Still, for someone like me who’s focused on ChatGPT speaking practice and interview-style test prep, Daily Speak has been incredibly useful.

It’s a new app, and I can already tell that with more feedback and time, it’ll get even better.

And honestly, I kind of like being part of its early growth.

We’re All Getting Better at English — Thanks to AI

AI makes it so easy now — pick a topic, talk, and boom, feedback.

Even people who never use English in daily life are getting pretty good.

Honestly, if I don’t improve at this point… it’s kind of on me.

The bar’s getting higher, and “just okay” doesn’t cut it anymore.