Introduction
For a person learning French, one of the more difficult parts of the language is the conjugation
of verbs.
In order to help with this, I present a software package called Verbe which allows you to view the conjugation of a selection of verbs (both regular and irregular) in the three most useful tenses - Present, Passé Composé and Futur.
All you need to do is choose a verb, and choose a tense, and Verbe will do the rest - you can see an example of this in the picture above.
It's a learning aid too!
In addition to using the conjugation tool to see the French verbs in the three tenses, you can ask Verbe to test you ... simply choose what you would like to be tested on (regular, irregular, both; and which tense(s)), and Verbe will ask you ten questions.
Choose what you think is the correct option using menus - you must select the correct I, You, We (etc) form and the correct conjugation of the verb. In Passé Composé, you will also need to choose the correct auxiliary verb.
If you get stuck, there is a 'Hint' button. If you are totally baffled, there is a 'Give up'
button.
After the ten questions, Verbe will display your score, along with your four previous scores, in the form of a chart. Obviously, you want that thick black line to go up and up!
But wait, there's more!
Verbe also offers a number of features to make it even easier to use, from reverse referencing of verbs (i.e. by English verb) to built-in lessons.
The bottom line...
Verbe costs only 10 euros (plus 5€ EU or 8€ non-EU if postage and packing is required).
If you are learning French and would like help with your conjugations...
...perhaps Verbe can help you?
System requirements
Verbe requires:
- A 32 bit version of Microsoft™ Windows™, which is Windows 95 or
anything later (98, 98SE, ME, 2000, XP Home, XP Professional, etc etc).
- About 2Mb of space on your harddisc.
- The VisualBasic 5 runtime. You should have this if you are using Windows 98
or later.
If not - if the installed app fails with weird messages (missing DLL, etc), then don't
worry! Simply install the WebScan demo (\Bundled\WebScan\Setup.exe)
as this includes all of the runtime components. They are not included with the other
installations (including Verbe itself) as the majority of systems will
already have these present.
(the runtime is included with CD-ROM distributions of the software)
Verbe will work in a 16 colour 640 x 480 VGA display on a machine without a mouse; however the experience and usability of the software (not to mention Windows itself) is greatly enhanced by having at least SVGA (256 colour 800 x 600) and some form of pointing device - mouse, trackerball, touchpad...
Updates
The latest version of Verbe is v0.08r0.
You can find the exact version of your copy by opening the 'Help' menu at the main options, and then choosing the 'About Verbe' option...
At this time, we offer a 'free upgrade' policy. The Verbe installation CD-ROM is an unfinalised multisession disc. Simply return your CD-ROM and the old version will be moved aside (in case you need it) and the newer version added. Then simply re-install the software when you receive your disc. Depending on your location, there may be a small charge to cover postage.
In addition, the OSinfo software (bundled) has been updated to correctly support harddiscs over 2Gb in size, as well as a few other tweaks and additions...
Support
If you experience any problems with Verbe, or if you think of a way that the product may be improved - please don't hesitate to contact me!
You can email me at heyrick at merseymail dot com. Unfortunately I only have internet access once a week, so my replies cannot be as rapid as I would wish for.
Please do not send attachments (pictures, zip files, etc) as MerseyMail's virus/spam filtering will reject them, and probably your message too.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions:
- It is a pain to have to call up the list of verbs, move the little selection down and
down and down until I find the verb that I want...
Windows has a way around this. If you click the list box but not the arrow bit on
the right hand side, the verb will be highlighted (usually white on blue). You can then
use the Cursor Up and Cursor Down keys to move your way through the
list of verbs.
Remember - you can use Tab to go to the tense selection if you need to change the
current tense; and if you press Tab while holding down the Shift key,
the highlight will move back to the verb selection.
With the palmtop version of Verbe, you can press the first letter of the
verb you are looking for, then use the left/right cursors, or press
Tab, to move around the list to select the desired verb...
- Can I add verbs?
It is not recommended that you alter the verb data files as future updates will
overwrite existing files, including verbs that you may have added.
If there are specific verbs that you would like to have within Verbe, send
me an email and I'll add them.
With the palmtop version of Verbe, don't forget you can use the
Convert utility to keep your palmtop's verb list in sync with your Windows
version!
- What is the actual memory consumption of the palmtop version?
With 125 verbs loaded (86 regular, 39 irregular), the Verbe application
consumes 20K, plus a further 11K is claimed by the OS for screen buffering.
Verbe uses only the black plane (no grey) to further conserve memory.
Other FAQs to come...
At the vide grenier...
I have, in the past, sold copies of Verbe more-or-less by word of mouth. St. George's Day, 2006, was the first 'public' outing of the software. I demonstrated it at a vide grenier (basically a French equivalent of a 'car boot sale') held at a local town; and I sold five copies. I'm happy with that as I came out €20 ahead, after deducting media/ink/etc expenses. I also made several good contacts and got to know new people. It was a nice day, and I look forward to doing it again next year - perhaps with something bigger and better! I have 12 months to prepare! ☺
My 'stand' was the picture above. Notice I'm wearing my RiscPC shirt - just to fully confirm my geek credentials! And yes, those things around are bags of wool. Mom was selling her wool at the same time.
At first there were not many people coming by as I was in a room (needed electricity, y'see) that was sort-of around the back of things. However that door you can see behind me went to the toilets, so as the day progressed it turned out to be a pretty good place to be as sooner or later people would walk past!
In fact the only disappointment of the day was the number of English people who were not interested in my software for the pure and simple reason that they don't feel they should speak French in France! One went as far as to suggest that as there are so many "of us" (English), that "they" (the French) should speak English! I make specific point of this here, or anywhere, as this sort of attitude does not fit in with living in a different country with a different language and culture (be it France, Spain, Bulgaria, wherever...). This attitude is amazingly disrespectful to the natives of the host country, and does no favours to those of us who wish to integrate into the French way of life.
I wish to say a big thank you to Howard for the use of his laptop and CD writer.
Big thank yous to Karen and Suzanne for arranging things for me.
And, not forgetting mom - who pays for the electricity, even if it sometimes takes some effort to convince the EDF of that fact! ☺
Verbe on your palmtop...
If you have an Acorn PocketBook II or Psion 3A/3C palmtop, Verbe is now available for these computers!
A small easy-to-install program (you will need PsiWin and a 3Link; or RISC OS/Mac equivalent), Verbe for your organiser puts the same verbs and the same conjugation as the Windows version at your disposal. And since it is on a little computer not much larger than a hard spectacles case, you can truly have your conjugations any place, any time!
Here is Verbe installed on the desktop (system screen):
Here is Verbe loading:
And, finally, here is Verbe in use:
The version of Verbe available for your palmtop is aware of potentially restricted memory. It therefore concentrates on the conjugations. It is for this reason that the self-test facilities of the Windows version of Verbe are not provided. Instead, a compact and handy reference tool is what you get!
Also supplied is a conversion utility so you can keep your palmtop up to date with the verb files available for use with the Windows version of Verbe. Read a walk-through of converting.
This version of Verbe offers several enhancements over previous releases:
- Now loads and starts virtually instantly, no longer needs to perform the lengthy setup.
- Fewer resource files, keeps things tidier.
- Opens the data files in read-only mode, so is safe to place Verbe on FlashROM SSDs.
- Accented verbs ("être" and "écrire") are now shown in the correct place in the verb selection list, and not at the end.
This zip file is password protected - registered users of Verbe will be given the password on simple demand. If you already have the password, it will remain as such until further notice.
Verbe (for your palmtop) is compatible with the Psion series 3A and the Acorn PocketBook II. It should also be compatible with the series 3C and 3MX.
Sorry, it is not compatible with the Acorn PocketBook (original), the Psion 3 (original), the Psion Sienna, or the Psion Workabout - namely due to the screen being too small on these models.
And also for the series 5...
If you have a Psion series 5 organiser, you can now use the functionality provided by Verbe on your portable assistant!
Just like the series 3 version, French conjugations are to hand whenever you need them. The only difference? It looks better and it is a lot faster!
Here's how it looks on the series 5:
This zip file is password protected - registered users of Verbe will be given the password on simple demand. If you already have the password, it will remain as such until further notice.
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Copyright © 2007 Richard Murray
