Intermediate English speaking practice with real stories
A B1 story, “The Weekend Disaster”. Hear it, then retell it in your own words. Free, no sign-up.
Try one now: a weekend that went wrong
A friend asks how your weekend was. Hear the story, then tell it yourself.
- Listen to the story
- Retell it out loud from short notes
- See what to fix, then say it again
Free, no sign-up · Notes and tips in your language · We don’t keep your recordings · Mic needed from step 2
What is intermediate English speaking practice?
Intermediate English speaking practice is about the gap between textbook sentences and the way people really tell a story. You can already make correct sentences. What you miss is the small stuff: how to start, how to link one event to the next, how to react. The story on this page is a weekend story at B1 level, told the way a coworker would tell it on a Monday morning.
In this intermediate English speaking practice you hear a story, retell it from notes, then see which phrases a native speaker used that you didn’t: “it turned out”, “went off”, “showed up”, “ended up”. Small phrasal verbs like these are what make intermediate English sound fluent instead of careful.
This is a passage from the Small Talk line, which starts easy and gets harder. There is no level to pick; this is simply what the middle of a scenario feels like, and you can try it right now. For other moments, from meetings to travel, start a story in our English speaking practice.
How to practice intermediate English speaking
One round of intermediate English speaking practice · a few minutes
1. Listen
Hear the story once without reading. Then replay sentence by sentence and check the words you missed.
2. Retell it in your own words
Use the Keywords notes, which give you little English, and tell the story in order, with the problem and the punchline.
3. Borrow natural phrases
See where your wording was stiff and which phrasal verbs and linking phrases you can borrow.
4. Say it again
Tell the story a second time with the new phrases in it and compare the two takes.
What makes this intermediate practice different
Stories, not drills
Real small-talk stories with a beginning, a problem and a joke at the end, the kind you are actually asked for at work and at parties.
Phrasal verbs in context
“Turned out”, “went off”, “showed up” and “take it easy” come straight from the passage, so you meet them inside a story, not a list.
Notes that fade
Start with Detailed notes, then switch to Keywords, then to notes in your own language, and the work moves from you copying to you composing.
Feedback on what you meant
Because there is an original, the AI knows what you were trying to say. It shows how a native speaker would say it and explains why in your language.
Example: first take and second take at intermediate level
Passage: “The Weekend Disaster” (B1) · an intermediate retell in action
Take 1
Last weekend was… bad. I go to my uncle’s cabin with my girlfriend, but I forgot the key at home… Then I tried to enter by the window and the alarm sounded.
Take 2
My weekend was a disaster. We drove up to my uncle’s cabin, and it turned out I’d left the key at home. I tried to climb in through a window, and the alarm went off. An angry neighbor showed up in his pajamas.
Example take, written to show the typical change
Phrases in this passage
- Oh, don't askit was so bad I don't want to explain
- it turned outI found out something surprising
- went offmade a sudden loud sound
- showed uparrived, often without warning
- ended updid something in the end, not by plan
- take it easyrelax and not do much
Every scenario goes from easy to hard, and this story comes from Small Talk. See every scenario.
Who this intermediate speaking practice is for, and where to go next
Not sure this level fits? Each card shows where to go instead.
If the story moves too fast
Shorter sentences and everyday words help when this pace is too much. Spend a few rounds there and come back.
English speaking practice for beginnersReady to argue a point
Once stories feel comfortable, the next step is opinions: agreeing, pushing back and proposing a compromise.
Advanced English speaking practicePeople making small talk
Colleague chat, parties and new neighbors. Play both sides of a short dialogue to get the quick back-and-forth of real talk.
English conversation practiceAnyone curious about the method
Want to know why retelling works so well for speaking? Read how the method is built and what each step trains.
Retell practiceQuestions about intermediate English speaking practice
What counts as intermediate English speaking?
Roughly B1 to B2: you can handle everyday topics, but you hesitate, fall back on simple words and miss the natural phrases native speakers use. Intermediate speaking practice aims at fluency and range, not at basic correctness.
How do I stop translating in my head?
Retelling from notes forces you to build sentences in English with no time to translate. The notes only give you ideas, so you can’t translate them word for word, and the second take gets you used to doing it faster.
How long should I practice each day?
One round of intermediate English speaking practice takes a few minutes. A few rounds every day beat one long session a week, because the phrases you borrowed stay fresh.
Can I do intermediate English speaking practice for free?
Yes. The story on this page needs no account and gets AI feedback on up to 4 takes a day. A free account gives you 10 a day and starter stories in 3 scenarios. Pro gives you 30 a day, every scenario and your full progress history.
Will I get feedback on my grammar?
In intermediate English speaking practice you get feedback against the original: which points you covered and missed, up to four natural phrases to borrow, and up to three mistakes that matter, each with a better version and the reason in your language. It shows what to fix first, not every small slip.
The easiest way to improve your spoken English.
Free English speaking practice: one short story, a few minutes, no sign-up.
Try the free story