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Conditionals and reported speech offer the most chances for confusion and error out of any grammar points covered until now. The nature of their dual-clauses and chronologically complex nature, added to by the flexibility (yet still limited) in their phrasing, makes them a chance for easy mistakes and thus require a lot of patience and slow, long-term acquisition. This isn't limited to English either, as I've had similar challenges with Japanese conditionals and reported speech, and have been learning them since within my first few months yet still have plenty of points that I mistake.
The advice to take things slowly is quite sage. Even with the clear divisions of conditionals (present+present for the Zero, past simple+will/modal for the 1st, past simple+would+base form for the 2nd, and past perfect+would+past perfect for the 3rd), the possibilities vary based upon what the speaker is trying to convey. Considering that especially from the 2nd conditional how the topics become counterfactual, even native speakers may not know how to phrase what we're trying to say.
Reported speech is also challenging, due to the options one can find in both diction, dialect, and even idiolectical choice (this is where some of the above blurs compared to previous grammar points, and separates into prescriptive and descriptive approaches more apparently). That said, the list provided for conversions and backshifting is wonderful, and I intend to make good use of it with my more advanced students here.
