N5 · Lesson 25
Reading like the exam
a full N5 passage ・ connectives in the wild ・ exam-style questions ・ the particles, recapped
In this lesson, you will learn to read a passage as long as the ones on the N5 exam: to find its topic and its facts, to follow the words that join its sentences, to spot the trap in an exam choice, and to check every particle. The passage is Lisa's letter home about her first semester.
By the end you will be able to say
四月から 七月まで、日本の 大学で 勉強しました。From April to July, I studied at a university in Japan.
初めは よく わかりませんでした。でも、今は わかります。At first I didn't understand well. But now I do.
クラスには いろいろな 国の 学生が います。There are students from many countries in my class.
夏休みは 長いので、アルバイトを する つもりです。Summer vacation is long, so I plan to work part-time.
では、また 手紙を 書きます。Well, I'll write to you again.
The grammar in this lesson
- Reading a full passage: the topic and the facts — Read twice: first for who writes to whom about what, then for the facts the questions ask.
- Connectives in the wild: そして / でも / それから / から / ので — Words that join sentences are signposts: そして adds, それから comes next, でも turns, から and ので give reasons.
- Exam-style questions: what is asked, what is a trap — Read the question first, find the one sentence that answers it, and check each choice against it.
- The particles in the passage, recapped — Every particle in the letter is one you know; exam blanks test the pairs that get mixed up.