Verbs are a very important part of any language. Luckily, learning how to conjugate verbs is not as daunting as people think. OUINO teaches verb conjugation in a way that makes sense. The verb module is divided in 4 sections that work together to teach you hundreds of verbs and continuously reinforce your conjugation at the same time. We use a unique visual approach. In this post, we’ll go through the 4 sections of our verb module.
The Key Verbs Section.
There are hundreds of verbs in any language. Luckily, some verbs are used a lot more than others. We have identified about 10 verbs that really stand out from the rest. These “Key Verbs” are used constantly and learning them in the beginning will give you a huge learning boost. For example, the verb “to be” alone is used over 450 times in this guide. That’s about 4% of the entire content right there! The “Key Verbs” section will give you an in-depth look at these most important verbs. We highly recommend taking these lessons before learning any other verb.
The reason we suggest learning these verbs before any conjugation is not only because of the frequency they are used, but also because most of them are highly irregular in conjugation. You therefore have to learn how they are conjugated independently from other verbs.
Acting is doing, because everything you say or do is some kind of an action, some kind of a verb. You’re always connected to the other person through some kind of action.Mira Sorvino
The Verb Endings Section.
These lessons focus on teaching you conjugation. Verb conjugation is not all that complicated. It’s only a matter of learning a few endings, really. These lessons will show you how the endings are added to the stem of regular verbs. Sure, it may not seem all that exciting, but it’s incredibly useful.
Don’t underestimate the power of these lessons. After completing the “Verb Endings” exercises, it will be much easier to understand the other two sections of the verb module, where the endings will be reinforced through hundreds of examples in context.
The Express Verbs Section
This section will teach you 6 verbs per lesson in one specific tense. For example, if you have just learned the endings for the present tense, you can go take the present tense lessons in the “Express Verbs” section to keep practicing your conjugation while learning several new verbs. These lessons are great to learn lots of new verbs really quickly. They focus on one tense or mood at a time.
The Individual Verbs Section
Now, instead of focusing on one tense with multiple verbs, these lessons will focus on one verb, but in different tenses and moods. These lessons work together to teach you the most important verbs in the language while perfecting your conjugation and your ability to use multiple verb tenses at the same time. Don’t worry if you are bit lost at first, these lessons work together as a whole. It will all come together, we promise.
The Verb Exercises
Throughout the verb module, you will see four different types of exercises to help you practice. Each of them works in a different way to help you master these verbs.
Simple practice: This is a simple listening exercise. Try to hear the subtle difference between each conjugation in a full sentence. You can also use the other parts of the sentence you understand to make your choice. The goal is to train your ear to the language.
Conjugation match: These exercises will get you engaged with the full conjugation of the verb. You will match the verbs with their corresponding personal pronouns. You’ll quickly notice repeating patterns within the verbs and start using the conjugation for yourself.
By the book: This is similar to the conjugation match, but you’ll have to match the same personal pronoun to different tenses and moods. The endings for the same person are often very similar from one tense to another, so you’ll really have to notice the subtle differences.
Write it out: In these exercises, the verb will be missing from the sentences and you have to fill in the correct conjugation. Use the hints if you need them. We recommend taking this exercise until you can get the Fluency Award, which will require you to complete the exercises without using any hints.
The “Verb & Conjugation” module of OUINO should be seen as one entity; the lessons work together as a whole. By completing all the lessons, you’ll learn over 250 verbs and learn how to conjugate in up to 11 verb tenses and moods. You’ll also get plenty of practice in our exercises to make sure you are ready for real-life conversations.
Recommended Verb Path
As you know, we don’t believe that learning a language is a linear process. However, we do believe that verbs have a more natural progression that makes sense for most people. That’s why, since version 4.0, we’ve included a recommended verb learning path to better guide you. We’ve organized the lessons in what we believe is the best order of lessons to go through the verb module.
It combines all 4 verb sections, as well as a few Building Blocks lessons, in one well-organized module. It is our recommendation, but of course, we always encourage our users to steer away from the recommended paths if they feel the need.
