Speaking as a productive skill has become an essential component for language communication. This study was conducted to investigate the problems in speaking English, as well as the strategies in overcoming speaking difficulties. To answer the two research questions, this study employed descriptive qualitative research as the approach. The participants of this research were six students of EED of UMY. The researcher used standardized open-ended interview to collect the data. Then, in analyzing the data the researcher used open coding, analytical coding, axial coding and selective coding. The result showed that the problems faced by EED of UMY students in speaking were unsupportive environment, poor pronunciation, lack of input exposure, anxiety, lack of English speaking practice, lack of grammar, lack of vocabulary knowledge, preference to use first language, lack of confidence, discouragement by friends, students’ mother tongue and fear of making mistakes. Moreover, the strategies used by the EED of UMY students in overcoming their speaking problems were practicing speaking English, taking notice to role model, watching English movies, joining an English speaking club, communicating on phone using English, building confidence when speaking English, using first language, using pause and filler, fidgeting, reading English texts, improving self-awareness, participating English speaking in the classroom, listening to English songs, using nonlinguistic signals, reading aloud, learning more deeply about grammar, memorizing English words and repeating words. Eventually, those strategies could reduce the students speaking problems.