GUIDED PATH · PHASE 5
Guided Japanese Course
A mastery path for complete beginners and technology professionals.
HOW THIS COURSE WORKS
Follow the path. Advance by mastery.
The primary path tells you what to do next. You can still open any available lesson, but completion is based on checkpoints rather than calendar days.
FULL TARGET CURRICULUM
Tracks 0–10
TRACK 1 · 1-2
X is Y: は and です
Build your first complete Japanese statements and questions using X は Y です.
- Know a small set of people/work nouns from 1-1.
This pattern is the foundation for introductions, role statements, identification, and many beginner exchanges. It also introduces a core Japanese idea: the topic is marked explicitly rather than relying on English word order.
1. The pattern is Topic → Comment
In X は Y です, は marks X as the topic—the thing the sentence is about. です makes the statement polite and complete. Do not translate は as the English word 'is'. A more structural reading is 'As for X, Y.'
Natural: I am an engineer.
Structure: As for me — engineer — am/polite.
Use this when introducing your role.
Natural: Tanaka is a programmer.
Structure: As for Tanaka — programmer — is/polite.
The topic can be another person.
Natural: This is a server.
Structure: As for this — server — is.
The same architecture identifies objects.
2. Turn the statement into a polite question
Add か to the end: X は Y ですか。 Japanese does not require English-style word inversion. Your voice usually rises naturally, but the grammar marker か already identifies the question.
Natural: Is Tanaka an engineer?
Structure: As for Tanaka — engineer — is — question?
A direct yes/no workplace introduction question.
Natural: Is this the test environment?
Structure: As for this — test environment — is — question?
A useful professional identification pattern.
3. は is a topic marker, not an equals sign
Thinking 'は = is' causes errors later. Compare 私はエンジニアです: です is the polite copular ending; は only marks 私 as the topic. Keep those jobs separate now so later sentences with verbs do not feel contradictory.
4. Build your first professional introduction
Write five X は Y です sentences: your name/role, a teammate role, a company/team identity, one object, and one language or field. Then convert any two into questions with か.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHEET
4. Build your first professional introduction
Write 5 X は Y です statements and convert 2 of them into X は Y ですか questions. Underline the topic and circle です / ですか.
Tip: on a foldable or tablet, use your pen directly on the page. Your strokes are saved in this browser as you work.
4. Build your first professional introduction
Write 5 X は Y です statements and convert 2 of them into X は Y ですか questions. Underline the topic and circle です / ですか.
5. Debug the structure in Language IDE
Use the IDE to make the sentence architecture visible instead of memorizing it as an English translation.
Language IDE
Why here: The IDE matches the developer mental model: topic, noun, and polite ending are separate components.
How to use it for this lesson: Build 私はエンジニアです。 Then change only one component at a time: 私→田中さん, エンジニア→プログラマー, です→ですか. Observe which meaning changes.
Open Language IDE →6. Mini onboarding exchange
Read this as a real first-day interaction. Focus on the repeated pattern rather than translating one word at a time.
Nice to meet you. I'm Ed.
I'm Tanaka. I'm an engineer.
Are you an engineer, Tanaka?
Mastery checkpoint
Answer from memory. Use the explanations after checking to debug any miss before moving on.
