Using Your Passion List For The First Time
Remember that list vocab you created for your “passion” in the previous chapter? Go ahead and pull that out, we’re going to use it to practice this grammar lesson.
- Using your “Passion Vocab,” write “it is a ______” in Japanese for each one of them. As you are going through, picture that thing in your head. For example, “Baseball” in Japanese is やきゅう (yakyuu). I would picture the concept of baseball in my head as I said and wrote やきゅうです (yakyuu desu). I would also try to smell the air and hear the crowds as I did this. The more senses you try to use, the better of a memory you’ll develop!
- You’re only going to be doing this with the nouns on your list (people, places, things). Verbs won’t work at all, and I want you to hold off on adjectives until later.
- Make sure you write all of these by hand! Do you know the vocab from your passion list? Be sure to study them if you don’t, because these vocab will be used later on as well.
Not particularly the most interesting way to use your new vocab lists, but it’ll get better as we learn more grammar. That being said, it’s time to move on! Congratulations, you are now officially able to speak some real, (somewhat) dynamic, Japanese. This is a big step, and there will be many more where that came from!
Basic です Worksheet
I’ve also created a basic worksheet to help you solidify your knowledge of this simple grammar point. Go through the worksheet and become a master at です.
It will also be a great opportunity to finish prepping your hiragana for the coming chapters. By now you should know your hiragana fairly well (it’s okay if you have to look them up sometimes, you’ll get better). Starting next chapter we’ll be going 100% hiragana, so study it hard before you move on. I’ll see you on the other side!
P.S. If you aren’t a member of TextFugu, now’s probably the time to make the decision. If you’ve made it this far, you’re doing really really well. Consider making that big decision, and start learning Japanese now.
Chapter Content:
Before Moving on :
- Know Hiragana pretty well (how to read, write, and pronounce)
- Understand the meaning of “desu.”
- Understand the pronunciation of desu (it’s “dess” not “desoo”)
- How to say “It is a ______” no matter what ______ is.
- Be able to pronounce “banana” in Japanese.
- Have all the worksheets completed
- Go through your “Passion List” and practice です with them
- Become a full TextFugu member before you move on.
