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 3 · 3-5
Adjective Past Tense
Describe what things were and were not like using past forms for both adjective classes.
- Present positive/negative adjective forms.
Retrospectives and incident reviews compare before/after state: the build was slow, the meeting was difficult, the old tool was not convenient.
1. Past transformations follow the adjective class
い-adjective past positive: final い→かったです. Past negative: くなかったです. な-adjective past positive: でした. Past negative: ではありませんでした.
2. Use adjectives in a retrospective
A retrospective is a natural place for past descriptions.
Natural: Yesterday's test was difficult.
Structure: yesterday's test topic — was-difficult
Past い.
Natural: The previous tool was not convenient.
Structure: previous tool topic — was-not-convenient
Past negative な.
Natural: The meeting was not long.
Structure: meeting topic — was-not-long
Past negative い.
3. Compare states instead of translating endings
Think BEFORE → AFTER and label time. The conjugation tells the listener which description belongs to the past.
4. Before/after retrospective
Choose five things that changed: tool, system, meeting, test, office. Write past description + current description for each.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHEET
4. Before/after retrospective
Create 5 before/after pairs (10 sentences). Include positive/negative and both adjective classes.
Tip: on a foldable or tablet, use your pen directly on the page. Your strokes are saved in this browser as you work.
4. Before/after retrospective
Create 5 before/after pairs (10 sentences). Include positive/negative and both adjective classes.
5. Run a four-state adjective refactor
Treat each adjective as a small state machine.
Language IDE
Why here: The four-state matrix is easier to internalize when the noun stays constant.
How to use it for this lesson: Refactor サーバーは速いです through present negative, past positive, past negative; repeat with 便利.
Refactor adjective tense →Mastery checkpoint
Answer without looking back. Use any miss to identify the exact rule or vocabulary gap that needs another pass.
