This is my first time using grammar to make my own sentences. I feel like I definitely made a few mistakes (or a lot) but I would like some feedback on the things I did right and things I did wrong.
My name is Finlay. I am 19 years old and live in the UK. I like Ice skating and playing games. My dream is to go to Japan one day and eat some delicious food. I have been learning Japanese for 7 months but I can only make basic sentences. I started grammar 1 month ago and I find it difficult. Do you have any advice, I would like to improve.
Wow! This is really good for only one month! This is probably where I was 2 months into learning grammar. Are you using textbooks or an online resource?
Tae Kim’s grammar guide is really good, like a glossary for grammar if you go into the PDF and use ctrl+F. I’m almost done with the Genki books, which I study with a Japanese tutor.
Genki is definitely going to help you a lot, especially in the later lessons. Don’t skip the exercises! That’s where you can get the most practice. The Genki workbooks(which accompany the textbooks) are also amazing extra practice for forming sentences, if you have those as well.
Yeah I had a lot of people telling me on my last post that Genki would help me a ton. But did my sentence make sense and was there anything that needs fixed?
It looks like you are trying to say “but I can only make basic sentences.”
I think I would say でも基本の文章をしか作れます。I just asked my tutor if that makes sense so I can update you when she responds. I’m also just a beginner but that’s my best guess.
Do you feel like you should be better after seven months?
Otherwise you can also say something more neutral like 「七ヶ月間日本語を勉強して、基本の文章を書けます。」, I think.
Also, feel free to look into the third example sentence of 初級. Instead of the “my Japanese” in the example you can say “Japanese grammar” or only “grammar” if you like
Hello! Just one little thing I’d like to point out: 「さん」is an honourific used when referring to other people; so in Japanese it is considered impolite to use さん on the end of your own name. This is something that I struggled with at first, too! =^-^=
My grammar is really bad, so not sure, but I think a particle is missing in between 英国 and 出身. Also, I’d translate this as “I’m from the UK” (country of origin) and not as “I’m living in the UK”. This would be 英国に住んでいます。
It’s possible to put a の in there, but I hear it without anything more often. アメリカ出身, 東京出身, etc
The bigger thing is people don’t really use 英国 very much in everyday contexts. It’s more likely to be seen in written documents or something. イギリス is more common.
Thanks! I almost didn’t recognized you Leebo with the new picture, why did the cat take over the wolf (or was it a dog?). Even the Scots use イギリス? Freeedoommm !!
Here the nominalizing の is unnecessary. You use that after verbs or adjectives. So either
アイススケートやゲームが好きです。
Or
アイススケートやゲームするのが好きです。
Since this is your 自己紹介 it is entirely obvious you would be talking about your own dream. Leave out pronouns as long as context makes it clear!
This was already partly addressed, but you still need a verb there! 私はフィンリーです。is the simplest option. You can also go for と言います, or と申します for politeness.
It would be better to connect this sentence to the next with ので or から. Also, ヶ月 already denotes a timespan, so that extra 間 is unnecessary. Not sure if it’s actually wrong, though. I would also use an adjective for basic.
7ヶ月くらい日本語を勉強していますので、基本的な文章しか作れません。
You don’t need explicitly refer back. それは is best left out, here. And you usually use と思います for things you think (feel, in this case, is synonymous with think. The Japanese 感じる refers mostly to emotions and sensations).
I would put a particle in here:
助言がありますか。
All of your text is beautifully neutral, except this last one! 改善したいです。
By the way, I gave you a lot of 改善のポイント, but honestly, this wasn’t bad at all! Any Japanese lerson would have understood what you were saying if you introduced yourself like this. And I know people who’ve been at Japanese and grammar for years, and would struggle to come up with something like this.
You broke down each part so well and it was super easy to understand. It helped a lot so I appreciate it a lot so thank you for all the advice! I want to be able to pass the N5 JLPT in June (Covid permitted). I tried taking the sample questions test and failed the mass reading and the listening comprehension aspect of it. Will that just come naturally over time or are there things that I can do to improve those aspects?
