11 Speaking Activities for Spanish Class

Speaking can be one of the trickiest modes to get in with our classes. Students aren’t always comfortable speaking in front of the whole class. Helping them grow their confidence can be difficult! In my experience, it can be helpful to give them opportunities to work in pairs or in small groups with some scaffolded support. Check out these ideas for Spanish speaking activities to use with your students!

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Speaking Activities for Spanish Class

1. Weekend Chat – this is one of my favorite classroom routines. Every Friday and Monday we chat about weekend plans and what students did while they were gone. There’s a LOT of ways you can do this activity, so check out my blog post for seven ideas here!
2. Running Dictation – students pair up and work to remember and communicate chunks of a story in this active re-reading game! This is a great option for speaking practice because the students aren’t coming up with the output on their own. They’re just working on pronunciation by repeating the sentences out loud to their partner in a low-stress practice opportunity. Learn more about how to play here.
3. Reverse Running Dictation – this is a good twist on running dictation! Students are still working in pairs so we’re maintaining that low-stress set up, and once again, they’re not forming the language on their own so it’s a great option for novices. Learn how to play here!
4. 2 Truths and a Lie – Chances are you’ve played this getting to know you game before. While you can play it with white boards or slips of paper, you can easily do this as a speaking activity when students say their 3 statements out loud to a partner, small group, or whole class.
5. Blob – La Libre Language Learning explains this getting to know you game well in her video here! Basically, students form blobs, or groups of people, by asking & answering a question. If they have the same answer, they get added to that blob, until there are only little groups around the classroom that all agree. Learn more from her here!
6. Find Someone Who or Human Bingo – oldie, but a goodie! Students walk around the room and ask and answer questions from their sheet of paper. If the other person responds positively to the question, they sign the box. Usually the questions correspond to the unit they’re working on. Grab a free find someone who you can use every Monday for weekend chat here!
7. Speed Dating – I never call it this with my students, but we just rotate and ask/answer questions on a timer. Easy peesy! My friend Erin over at The Engaged Spanish Classroom has a blog post explaining how she adds a little more structure to this activity. Check it out here!
8. Ball Game – This is a SUPER simple game you can use for warm up, a speaking activity, or even a fast finisher! Here’s a quick 2-min video demoing how to play.
9. Special Person Interviews – These are one of my all time favorite routines. They come from Bryce Hedstrom and are just a great option to get your students speaking in front of the class in a low-pressure way as you offer a TON of scaffolding for them. Grab the slides I use to run this activity in my class here!
10. Sonidos Secretos – this is another one from Erin at The Engaged Spanish Classroom and trust me when I say your students will LOVE it. Hop over to her blog to learn how to play and grab a free set!
11. Conversation Cards – I love using these conversation cards to scaffold students’ speaking skills. There are so many ways to use them, but I most often grab a set to use during stations!

Interval Timer for Speaking Activities

Classroom management can sometimes be a challenge during speaking activities. If you have a class period that likes to get off track, try using an interval timer like the one below:

How it works:

The timer is set to give them 1 minute to work, and 15 seconds to switch to a new partner. There is a chime to indicate work time beginning, a buzzer to indicate the time to switch, and a tick tock sound when they have 5 seconds left to find a new speaking partner.

This is great to help keep students focused on the activity and add some more structure to the speaking time!

Speaking Activities for Spanish Class

I hope this post has given you a few ideas of different speaking activities for Spanish class! If I missed any of your personal faves, drop me a comment below to share an activity you like to do with your own classes.

Keep It Real with Low-Stress Speaking Routines

Let’s face it. Speaking in another language is tough, even for our most confident students. One way to ease them into it is with mini daily prompts that feel casual and repeatable. Think bell-ringer style but with a speaking twist.

Start with a simple question on the board like What did you eat for breakfast or What’s one thing you’re looking forward to today. Let students respond to a partner before doing anything else. No pressure, just a quick check-in using the target language.

Once they get used to this routine, you can switch up the questions to match your current unit. It becomes a comfortable rhythm and gives everyone a daily speaking win before the lesson even starts.

Let Students Take the Lead with Their Voices

If you want to boost confidence and fluency, give students ownership of the talking. Try having them create their own question cards based on topics you’ve already practiced. They can swap cards with partners and take turns asking and answering.

You could even set up a Question of the Week wall. Each Monday, assign a student to write the question and lead a two-minute class discussion or poll. It gives them a chance to speak and feel seen while keeping it short and sweet.

Another favorite is the Interview a Classmate routine. Let students write three fun or silly questions and take turns doing quick interviews. Then, each student introduces their partner to the class using one interesting thing they learned. It’s simple, structured, and full of repetition — everything novices need.

Sometimes the best speaking practice happens when students forget it’s “practice.” Keep it light, keep it student-centered, and keep celebrating every small step.

Games to Encourage Speaking

Some of my favorite fast finisher options are games I just keep on the shelf. When students finish an activity early, they can choose one to play. Here are some great games that get students speaking:

• Guess who?
• Guess who – deck of cards version
• Hedbandz
• Taboo
• Catch Phrase

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