Abilities

上

up　

down 　

下

手　 hand

Put them together and …

上手

じょうず

good at/skilful

下手

へた

bad at/unskilled

Things I am good / not good at g a

j

o

u

z

u

d e s u

Activity が　じょうず　です。 g a

h e t a

d e s u

Activity が　へた　です。 t e n i s u

Eg. テニスが　じょうず　です。 g o r u f u

Eg.ゴルフが　へた　です。 Now practise these: I am good at netball. __________________ I am good at soccer. __________________ I am good at swimming. __________________

I am not good at dancing. __________________ I am not good at chess. __________________ This particle is used when discussing something natural, or something that is difficult to change. Eg. skills, abilities, likes and dislikes, weather.

______________________________ Adding more detail… We can go into more detail to say how well we can do/can’t do an activity by adding an adverb. An adverb is a word that describes an action, and in Japanese comes right before the verb.

かなり よく すこし

kanari yoku sukoshi

quite well well a little

Eg. じゅうどう　が　かなり　できます。 I can do judo quite well. Eg.にほんご　が　すこし　できます。 I can do a little Japanese.

あまり amari *** ぜんぜん zenzen ***

not much not at all

*** Just like saying how often you do an activity, you must use amari and zenzen with a negative verb.

Eg.　すもう　が　ぜんぜん　できません。 I can’t do sumo (not) at all. 1. Make a list of the sports and hobbies you can & can’t do. Now say them as full sentences. CAN CAN’T • . • . • . • . • . • . • . • . • . • . • . • . 2. Take turns asking your neighbour: なに　が　できますか。 なに　が　できませんか。 Use the sports and hobbies from your list in your answers. 3. Now ask you classmates about the activities below and fill in the survey sheet with their answers. なまえ： ひらがな おりがみ

ともだち ①

ともだち ②

ともだち ③

ともだち ④

けんだま かなり

よく

すこし

Read the following letter from a new pen pal and answer the questions below in English to show your understanding. こんにちは。わたしは　ゆきこ　です。十三さい　で す。ひろしまに　すんで　います。日本人　です。 わたしは　けんどう　を　します。まいにち　がっこ うで　けんどう　を　します。けんどう　が　上手 です。けんどう　が　すき　ですか。 うち　で　りょうり　を　します。りょうり　が　す き　です。わたしは　りょうり　が　すこし　できま す。おかあさんは　りょうり　が　上手　です。にほ ん　りょうり　は　おいしい　です。ひろしま　で おこのみやきは　おいしい　です。 てがみ　を　かいて　ください。 ゆきこ　より What is the name of the person writing the letter? Is the author male or female? How do you know?

What sport does this person do? What else do they say about this sport? What does this person enjoy doing at home? What else do they say about this hobby?