Students who truly want to learn a new language must be able to correctly conjugate verbs in various tenses. In the past, this involved carrying around a heavy book with pages and pages of verb conjugations for just one language. Now, students have access to Verbix, one of the best language web sites to bookmark for your students. You can also put a hyperlink to Verbix on your class web site.
Verbix is a non-profit organization that "aims to promote and protect linguistic diversity." The site includes verb conjugations for more than 75 languages, ranging from international and national languages to regional and even extinct languages. From one page, students can select a language, then type in the infinitive of the verb that they want to have conjugated. Once they get to the conjugation page, depending on the language, the most common forms of the verb are at the top, the tenses are listed in several columns, including present, past, future, and other important forms.
If students don't know the infinitive, they can use a handy tool on Verbix called, "Find the verb." They just type in any form of the verb such as the present tense form and Verbix will tell them the infinitive. Interestingly, if students find a verb in virtually any foreign language and type it into "Find the Verb," Verbix will let them know all the languages that have a verb in that format.
Another interesting feature of Verbix, is their Linguistic Map section. There is an "Where on Earth Do They Speak..."an alphabetical list of the world's languages. Students have to click on the language to see where it is spoken on a map of the world. This part is somewhat difficult to use because it requires searching through a list of many languages in tiny fonts. A search box would be much easier to use. However, once the correct language is selected, there is a great deal of information given, including the number of speakers, alternate names for the language, dialects, a listing of where it is spoken in the world, plus a "zoom-able" map with "pushpins" where the language is spoken.
There is also a Languages of the World Map that has colored dots representing the languages spoken in each area. These are interesting for students, especially those who are trying to find out where languages are spoken in the world, but the zooming in and out on the interactive map is a bit slow and clumsy.
All in all, however, this is an excellent site for foreign language students who need to check on conjugations from their computer, tablet or mobile device.
Searchable (site searchable)
****/5 stars
Recommended for Grades 5-12+Adult
All in all, however, this is an excellent site for foreign language students who need to check on conjugations from their computer, tablet or mobile device.
Searchable (site searchable)
****/5 stars
Recommended for Grades 5-12+Adult
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