Coniuno

One of the hardest things about mastering a foreign language is learning how to properly conjugate verbs. Coniuno offers conjugation practice for verbs in German, English, Spanish, Italian, French, Latin, and Portuguese. It's not the most intuitive program we've seen, and it might not be the best choice for language learners who are really new to the concept of conjugating verbs. For users who have some foreign language experience and a familiarity with conjugating, however, it's definitely a good way to hone your skills.

Coniuno's interface makes use of a couple of toolbars across the top filled with tiny buttons; fortunately, there are tooltips, so it's not too difficult to figure out the program's features. Beneath the toolbars the interface splits into three panes; one shows the verb in question in your "mother tongue," both the infinitive and the tense in which you are to translate it. Beneath that there's a pane showing the person, mood, and tense of the verb, as well as whether it's reflexive or passive. In the main pane, Coniuno displays the verb in the training language in the infinitive; it's up to the user to type the appropriate conjugation for the listed person, mood, and tense. If you're not able to type special characters for some reason, the program has a menu from which they can be inserted. Once you've typed the conjugated verb, hit Enter, and Coniuno will let you know whether your answer is correct; if it's not, it will tell you why (wrong verb, wrong verb form, wrong conjugation, etc.) and let you try again until you get it right. The program comes with around 200 verbs, but more can be added. Coniuno comes with a lengthy Help file that explains its features, but we had no problem figuring the program out with a little experimentation. Overall, Coniuno isn't flashy or sleek, but it's a great tool to have if you want to improve the speed and accuracy of your conjugation.

Coniuno installs politely but leaves a folder behind upon removal.