As we all know, developing writing skills in Japanese takes time. A written text needs to be well structured and coherent. To achieve this, students need to learn how to build words into a sentence, how to use conjunctions appropriately, and how to structure a composition. Therefore it is a good idea for students to practice writing from an early stage, and to write regularly. Some teachers may give students the task of writing a short diary entry or a short message to their classmates every lesson. In this issue, as a first step to the writing of a Japanese text, I will focus on the construction of coherent sentences and the effective use of conjunctions in the context of 'Me and My Family'.
At an early stage, you may teach your students to write an introduction in simple sentences such as the one below on the left. Once they have mastered this, you may introduce 「そして」meaning 'and' and 「でも」meaning 'but' to enable your students to express themselves in a linked narrative while still using simple sentences.
　 　
　
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Task: Fill the blanks with そして or でも to make a coherent paragraph
　
わたしは、１３さいです。シドニーにすんでいます。マリンスポーツがだいすきです。（　　　）サーフィンがとくいです。ことし、日(に)本(ほん)語(ご)をべんきょうしています。（　　　）あまりじょうずではありません。かぞくは、４人(にん)です。父(ちち)と母(はは)といもうとです。（　　　）いぬを２ひきかっています。いぬはとてもかわいいです。（　　　）ときどきうるさいです。
　  
　 After students become familiar with the idea of using 「そして」and 「でも」, you may introduce another useful conjunction「だから」meaning 'therefore', which is used to give a reason in the following sentence.
eg, マリンスポーツがだいすきです。だから、うみのちかくにすんでいます。

To practice the use of 「だから」, use 3段論法(さんだんろんぽう) (syllogisms). A syllogism takes two statements which are assumed to be true and draws a conclusion from them.
　  
　 Activity idea: Syllogisms
　
Which of the statements is logical? (answer: 1)
　
(1) こどもはみんなおかしがすきです。まいちゃんは７さいです。
だから、まいちゃんはおかしがすきです。
(2) こどもはみんなおかしがすきです。ピーターさんはおかしがすきです。
だから、ピーターさんはこどもです。
(3) Try to make your own syllogism!
　 こうこうせいはみんな_______________________________________________________________
　 Once students develop the skill of making a continuous text using conjunctions at a beginning of a sentence such as 「そして」,「でも」, they can connect two sentences to make a complex sentence. Here are some examples of such sentences used for writing about yourself and family.
　 　
　
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　 Formation:  If the sentence ends with a Noun+です or な Adjective +です, use 「で」.
　 　
　
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　 Formation: If the sentence ends with an い  adjective, use 「くて」
　 　
　
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　 Formation: When you want to express contrasting facts, if the sentence ends with an い adjective use 「けど」, な adjectives use 「だけど」.
　 　
　 To practise using adjectives, students may like to play grammar games.
　 　
　 Activity 1: Master Mind
　 The teacher or a student uses the chart below to make up a sentence in secret.
eg, トムさんはあかるくてやさしいです。
Students ask questions trying different combinations to guess the sentence, making sure they make the correct changes in adjectives.
　
トム
げんき
あたまがいい
カイリー
あかるい
かわいい
リンダ
しんせつ
やさしい
　
Q: トムはあかるくて　やさしいですか。
Y: はい。
N: いいえ。
　 　
　 Activity 2:
　 Students write as many adjectives on the board as they can think of. In teams students take turns to pick two adjectives, joining them with either 「で」、「くて」、「けど」to make a sentence describing something they have at home. The team that makes the most correct sentences wins.
　
うちには、くさいけど　おいしいたべものがあります We have smelly but delicious food at home.
うちには、ふるくて　きたないくるまがあります。 We have an old dirty car at home.
　 When writing about themselves, students may write about their daily activities. To link a series of activities into a complex sentence, the て form of the verb is used.
　
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　 If you are listing more than three events, instead of making a very long sentence it is better to use the conjunctions 「そして」 or 「それから」meaning 'and also' or 'and then' to connect clauses.
　 NOTE: 「それから」has a stronger sense of 'from that point on' than 「そして」.
Eg. まいあさ、６じにおきて、シャワーをあびます。それから、あさごはんを食べます。
　 　
　 Task idea: Use the following pictures to write a description of a dog's life!
　
　  
　
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