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 7 · 7-2
Casual Speech: Using Plain Forms with People
Recognize and produce basic casual exchanges while understanding that relationship and context determine whether casual speech is appropriate.
- Plain-form matrix.
Textbooks often teach polite Japanese first, but friends, family, media, chat, and coworkers with established relationships frequently use plain forms.
1. Grammar form is not a permission slip
Knowing casual Japanese does not mean using it with everyone. Status, age, workplace culture, familiarity, and situation affect register.
2. Compare polite and casual versions
[{'label': 'Are you going tomorrow?', 'sample': '明日、行きますか。→ 明日、行く？', 'reading': 'あした、いきます か。→ あした、いく？', 'natural': {'en': 'Are you going tomorrow?', 'es': 'Consulta el significado natural en español.'}, 'literal': {'en': 'tomorrow — go?', 'es': 'Observa la estructura literal japonesa y el orden de sus componentes.'}, 'note': {'en': 'Casual questions often use intonation without か.', 'es': 'Observa la forma anterior al patrón y la relación que establece entre las ideas.'}}, {'label': "Yeah, I'm going.", 'sample': 'はい、行きます。→ うん、行く。', 'reading': 'はい、いきます。→ うん、いく。', 'natural': {'en': "Yeah, I'm going.", 'es': 'Consulta el significado natural en español.'}, 'literal': {'en': 'yeah — go', 'es': 'Observa la estructura literal japonesa y el orden de sus componentes.'}, 'note': {'en': 'Casual response.', 'es': 'Observa la forma anterior al patrón y la relación que establece entre las ideas.'}}, {'label': "No, I'm not going.", 'sample': 'いいえ、行きません。→ ううん、行かない。', 'reading': 'いいえ、いきません。→ ううん、いかない。', 'natural': {'en': "No, I'm not going.", 'es': 'Consulta el significado natural en español.'}, 'literal': {'en': 'no — go-not', 'es': 'Observa la estructura literal japonesa y el orden de sus componentes.'}, 'note': {'en': 'Casual negative.', 'es': 'Observa la forma anterior al patrón y la relación que establece entre las ideas.'}}, {'label': 'What are you doing?', 'sample': '何をしていますか。→ 何してる？', 'reading': 'なに を して います か。→ なに してる？', 'natural': {'en': 'What are you doing?', 'es': '¿Qué are you doing?'}, 'literal': {'en': 'what doing?', 'es': 'Observa la estructura literal japonesa y el orden de sus componentes.'}, 'note': {'en': 'Spoken contraction preview: している→してる.', 'es': 'Observa la forma anterior al patrón y la relación que establece entre las ideas.'}}]
3. Casual conversation often omits recoverable information
Subjects and particles can disappear when context is obvious. Do not interpret omission as random grammar; listeners reconstruct from shared context.
4. Register conversion worksheet
Write six 2-line polite exchanges, then rewrite them as plausible casual exchanges between close friends. Annotate what changed and what was omitted.
INTERACTIVE WORKSHEET
4. Register conversion worksheet
Create 6 polite→casual dialogue pairs. Label FORM CHANGE, PARTICLE/ARGUMENT OMISSION, or VOCABULARY CHANGE. Keep workplace examples fictional and relationship-appropriate.
Tip: on a foldable or tablet, use your pen directly on the page. Your strokes are saved in this browser as you work.
4. Register conversion worksheet
Create 6 polite→casual dialogue pairs. Label FORM CHANGE, PARTICLE/ARGUMENT OMISSION, or VOCABULARY CHANGE. Keep workplace examples fictional and relationship-appropriate.
5. Observe before imitating
Reading/listening context is safer than blindly converting every sentence.
Tsundoku Reading Nook
Why here: Dialogue lets you see plain forms attached to relationships and situations.
How to use it for this lesson: Find a short dialogue. Mark which lines are plain/polite and infer the relationship before checking translation.
Observe speech register →Side by Side Reader
Why here: Parallel context helps distinguish structural plain forms from direct casual address.
How to use it for this lesson: Look for a plain clause inside a longer sentence and decide whether it signals casual register or grammar embedding.
Compare plain-form usage →Mastery checkpoint
Answer from memory. If something fails, identify whether the bug is conjugation, particle role, or interpretation before retrying.
