We shipped the focused language tool we wanted to use.
Verb Lab is now available on the App Store. We built it around one recurring language-learning problem: you meet a verb or conjugated form, need to understand it quickly, want to hear it correctly and then need a practical way to remember it.
The app keeps that whole loop in one place. Search, conjugation tables, plain-language explanations, contextual examples, pronunciation, favourites and practice all use the same curated verb records.
Version 1.0 is free. It requires no account and contains no advertising, purchases, subscriptions or tracking. The app runs on iPhone with iOS 18 or later.
Five languages, without flattening their grammar.
English, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese cannot be handled responsibly by changing labels on one universal table. Each language has different persons, moods, auxiliaries, compound forms and irregular behaviour, so Verb Lab keeps a familiar product structure while preserving the grammar that matters in each language.
| Study language | Curated verbs in version 1.0 | What learners can inspect |
|---|---|---|
| English | 250 | Regular, irregular and modal forms, definitions, examples and usage guidance |
| French | 300 | Simple and compound tenses, pronominal verbs, moods and auxiliary choices |
| Spanish | 300 | Indicative, conditional, subjunctive, imperative and compound forms |
| German | 300 | Indicative, Konjunktiv I and II, imperative, participles and haben/sein forms |
| Portuguese | 300 | Definitions, examples and language-specific conjugation families |
Search works the way learners encounter language.
A learner often sees a conjugated word before knowing its infinitive. NGL Verb Lab therefore searches both infinitives and displayed forms, ignores accents where appropriate and prioritizes frequent verbs. The result should answer “what form is this?” as naturally as “show me this verb.”
The home screen is frequency-weighted rather than alphabetically neutral. Common verbs are visually prominent, while favorites let each learner create a personal working set without an account or a cloud dependency.
Pronunciation belongs beside every form.
Every displayed infinitive, example and conjugated form can be spoken with a language-specific system voice. Learners can switch between natural and deliberately slower playback, and changing speed restarts the phrase immediately instead of making them navigate away.
Because listening sits inside the detail and practice flows, pronunciation is not a separate premium exercise. It is available at the moment a learner is trying to connect spelling, grammar and sound.
Daily practice uses the same real conjugation data.
Reference tools are easy to open and easy to forget. The current app generates a ten-question daily session from the same catalog used for lookup. It gives immediate feedback, can pronounce the answer and records accuracy and daily streaks locally.
This is the central product difference: lookup can become active recall in one tap. The learner does not have to rebuild a deck, copy a form into another app or trust a quiz disconnected from the reference table.
- One coherent path from search to explanation, audio, favorite and practice.
- Questions generated from actual conjugation records rather than an unrelated lesson script.
- Local progress and favorites for a fast, private core experience.
- Short sessions designed to be repeatable instead of demanding a long course block.
What makes it different from broad course apps.
Different does not automatically mean better for every learner. A broad course may be the right product for a complete beginner who wants a guided curriculum. NGL Verb Lab is designed to be stronger at a more specific job: deep, fast verb work for learners who want to inspect, hear and practise the exact forms they need.
| Common product pattern | NGL Verb Lab approach |
|---|---|
| A fixed lesson path controls what can be studied | Search any supported verb and move directly between reference and practice |
| Conjugation is compressed into a short note | Full language-specific tables remain the primary learning object |
| Audio exists mainly inside scripted exercises | Pronunciation is attached to the infinitive, examples and every displayed form |
| The same generic grammar UI is reused everywhere | A shared architecture preserves distinct English, French, Spanish, German and Portuguese grammar |
| Useful content depends on a connection | Bundled catalogs and core learning data support an offline-first experience |
The release is a North Growth Lab product, not a client mock-up.
We designed and developed Verb Lab natively in SwiftUI for iPhone. System speech, local storage and bundled learning data are part of the product instead of a web page placed inside an app shell. The codebase includes automated tests for search, data behaviour and resource integrity.
The study language is separate from the explanation language. A learner can study German with Russian explanations, French with English explanations or another supported combination without duplicating the application.
What we will measure after launch.
App Store approval proves that version 1.0 is publicly available; it does not prove learning outcomes. The useful next evidence is learner feedback: whether people find the right form quickly, understand the tables, hear reliable pronunciation and return to practise.
If you use Verb Lab, tell us which language pair you study and which verb or grammar explanation was hardest to find. That feedback will guide the next release more honestly than a list of speculative features.