Conjugation Chaos
How Gemini 2.5 Pro Turned My Italian Verb Nightmare into a Dream
Alright, confession time. I'm learning Italian. Mostly through the friendly-but-slightly-passive-aggressive encouragement of Duolingo. If you've ever been scolded by Duo for missing your daily lesson, you know exactly what I mean. While I can now confidently ask "Dov'è il bagno?" (Where is the bathroom?), there's one aspect of Italian that consistently makes my brain want to curl up into the fetal position: verb conjugations.
Oh, Italian verbs. You beautiful, chaotic things. Io parlo, tu parli, lui parla—it's all smooth sailing until you hit irregular verbs, reflexive verbs, or that weird tense Duolingo just sprung on you. My notes app looks like a crime scene, and my retention rate? Let's just say it's molto basso (very low). Honestly, remembering Italian conjugations feels like juggling chainsaws while riding a unicycle.
Round 1: Simple Games
So, the other night, staring blankly at essere (to be) for the millionth time, a thought struck me. Lately, I've been chatting a lot with Google's Gemini 2.5 Pro. Could I get Gemini to build me something genuinely useful for studying—not just flashcards, but a proper, interactive game?
Challenge accepted (by me, on behalf of the AI, which probably just saw this as another Tuesday).
"Okay, Gemini," I typed, hopeful but skeptical. "I need a fun game to help me learn Italian verbs and conjugations."
Gemini's first suggestion? A pen-and-paper dice game. Cute, but I wanted digital. Next, it whipped up a web game asking me to type conjugations directly. "Too hard!" I protested. "I'm still learning the words!"
Round 2: Matching Games
"How about a matching game?" Gemini listened. Version two appeared quickly: pronouns on one side, shuffled conjugations on the other. Click-click, match-match—this was better!
But I got greedy.
"Can we add English definitions of the verbs?" Poof. Done. "And English translations next to the pronouns?" Zap. Added. "Wait, can lines connect the pairs when I get one right?" Seconds later, satisfying green lines zipped across the screen. It felt like having my own personal developer on call.
Round 3: Polish and Graphics
Encouraged, we kept going. More verbs appeared—regular, irregular, all of them. Then I decided sometimes I wanted to tackle a specific troublemaker (fare, I'm looking at you).
"A dropdown menu to choose the verb? And another button for random verbs?" Gemini didn't hesitate. The UI evolved, logic adapted.
Finally, I threw down the gauntlet. "This is great, but can you make the graphics, like... 10 times better?" Gemini took the hint, refining colors, adding gradients, enhancing button styles, tweaking spacing, and even sprinkling in little animations.
(Here’s a sneak peek at the final UI!)
The result? A genuinely useful, polished study game tailored exactly to my needs, co-created with an AI. (Okay, mostly created by Gemini, based on my increasingly specific demands.)
You can try the finished game here!
Personal Reflection
Is the game FUN? Well, I wouldn't say it's incredibly entertaining—but as a study tool, it’s been transformative. This experience genuinely deepened my appreciation for how AI can empower personalized learning, turning a frustrating process into something manageable and even enjoyable.
Now, if you'll excuse me, io devo studiare (I have to study). Using Duolingo AND the game Gemini built for me.
What cool things have you built or tried with AI recently? Share your most unexpectedly successful AI collaborations in the comments—I can't wait to hear your stories!