Less reteaching
Teachers spend less of each September reviewing last year's verbs.
For school and department leaders
Help students keep the language they learn
VerbMaster brings mastery learning to the part of Spanish and French that every other skill depends on. Students learn their verbs once and keep them from one year to the next.
“I took four years of Spanish, and I remember nothing.”
Most adults have heard someone say this, and many have said it themselves. It's rarely true. Students do learn in language classes. But it's what they believe they took away, and it's what they tell their friends, their families, and eventually their own children.
That matters for your program. Former students are its best advertisement, to future students and to their families. VerbMaster helps them leave with language they can actually use.
Why verbs?
"Spanish verbs" can sound like a narrow topic. It isn't. Verbs are the part of the language that says what happens, who does it, and when. Without them, a student has vocabulary but nothing to say.
40+
forms for a single Spanish verb
They are also where students get stuck. A student can know what they want to say and most of the words, and still stall while working out the verb. When those forms become automatic, students have more attention for real communication.
Verbs are also cumulative. Every year of a language program builds on the forms students learned the year before. Gaps from Spanish 1 follow them into Spanish 4.
Mastery learning, in a scope that fits your schedule
In a mastery learning model, students don't move on until they have mastered the material. The research behind it is strong. Benjamin Bloom found that students taught this way performed well above students in conventional classes. The hard part has always been giving every student their own pace within a fixed schedule.
VerbMaster narrows the scope to verbs. Each student gets their own path: it checks what they already know, gives support where they need it, moves them forward when they're ready, and brings forms back for review before they're forgotten. The rest of the course keeps its normal calendar.
Read more about mastery learning →Progress that stays with the student
A student's mastery belongs to them, not to one class. When they move to a new teacher or a new course, their progress comes with them.
A clear starting point
Teachers can see where every incoming student actually stands on day one.
Years that build
Each course builds on the one before instead of starting over.
This works best when every teacher in the sequence uses VerbMaster, which is why many schools license it for the whole department.
What teachers get back
Teachers see progress in real time by student, verb, and tense, and they can assign practice that matches what they're teaching that week. Class time can go to communication instead of drills.
This semester, it feels like such a huge weight lifted off that I can focus on communication instead of conjugation.
Spanish Teacher at St. John's Jesuit, OH
Cost
Pricing is per student per year and drops as enrollment grows. A single class of 20 students is $500 a year. A department of 100 students pays $18 per student.
Every school starts with a free semester, so your teachers can see results with their own students before you commit.
If budget is the obstacle, tell us. We'll work with you.
Purchasing and privacy
- Quotes and invoices on request, including a W-9.
- We collect only what the app needs to work, and we don't sell student data.
- We can sign your district's data privacy agreement.
Have questions?
Talk with Sam Seidenberg, VerbMaster's founder. It takes 15 minutes, and your teacher is welcome to join.
Prefer email? Write to sam@verbmaster.co.