I often get often get asked by my students about how they can practice their speaking for the IELTS exam. Most students believe that there is nothing that they can do to work on their speaking at home without a teacher. However, this is not really true.
First of all, any kind of English study will assist with your speaking. For instance, when you are listening you are hearing someone else speaking and you can remember and copy some of the phrases they are speaking. Listening and reading are also a source of input, you will input correct grammar and vocabulary into your brain. Then when it comes to the output stage, your brain accesses the input.
There are also some more direct ways to improve your speaking. First off, you can work on your pronunciation. If you have problems with the “th” sound you can practice this in front of a mirror. Make sure you are getting your tongue out onto your teeth to make this sound correctly. In addition, you can record yourself and then listen to it afterwards. You could grab a novel and read it aloud. Even if no one hears you and gives feedback it is still going to improve your speaking. This is just the same as if you were a golf player and went out to the green and hit a ball around.
If you wish to speak to me online, I offer an online speaking service over SKYPE.