橋渡し：B1からB2へBridge to Independent Communication
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Talk about your own Japanese learning: what feels secure, what still feels uncertain, and what a B2 learner needs to be able to do.
- Audit your control of polite and plain style and identify where you mix them without intending to.
- Review and reactivate conditionals, quotation, and relative clauses from Volume II so they are ready for expanded use in this volume.
- Track a single topic across several connected sentences without unnatural repetition of names or pronouns.
- Organize a short spoken or written account using a clear beginning, middle, and end rather than a list of disconnected sentences.
- Read and write mixed-script Japanese with kanji strategies for words you do not immediately recognize.
- Identify, from your own recent work, one or two error patterns to watch for as you begin Volume III.
Communication Scenario
Emma and Yuki's community profile project earned them a spot in an intermediate discussion group that meets online with learners and speakers from several countries. Before their first session, the group leader has asked every member to send a short self-introduction that goes beyond "hobbies and hometown": what they can already do in Japanese, what they still find difficult, and one specific goal for the next few months. Yuki, glancing over Emma's draft, notices that it slides between polite and plain sentences without any particular reason, and the two of them end up talking not just about the introduction itself but about how their Japanese has grown over the past year and where the rough edges still are. This chapter's Practical Performance Task asks you to write and present a similar self-assessment as you begin Volume III.
- The writer reflects honestly on strengths and weaknesses using vocabulary for self-assessment and discourse planning.
- The writer reactivates Volume II systems — conditionals, quotation, and relative clauses — in a short connected account.
- The writer maintains one consistent register throughout, auditing for accidental polite/plain mixing.
Core Vocabulary
This chapter's vocabulary supports talking about your own Japanese learning: readiness, self-assessment, error patterns, and discourse planning. Everything from Volume II remains active; the words below are new to this chapter's domain.
| Japanese | Reading | English meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 自己評価 | じこひょうか | self-assessment | noun; often used with する |
| 苦手（な） | にがて（な） | weak at; not good at | な-adjective; reviewed from Volume II, active here for self-assessment |
| 得意（な） | とくい（な） | strong at; good at | な-adjective; pairs naturally with 苦手 |
| 目標 | もくひょう | goal | often with を立てる (to set a goal) |
| 間違え方 | まちがえかた | pattern of mistakes; way of making errors | 間違える + 方 (way of doing) |
| 気をつける | きをつける | to be careful about; to watch out for | often with に: 〜に気をつける |
| 構成 | こうせい | structure; organization | used for discourse and text organization |
| 流れ | ながれ | flow (of a text, conversation, or process) | literally "flow, current" |
| 統一する | とういつする | to unify; to make consistent | used here for register consistency |
| レベル | レベル | level | katakana loanword; used for proficiency level |
This chapter does not introduce a themed vocabulary set the way earlier chapters did; instead it reactivates and organizes vocabulary you already control, alongside a small set of new words for talking about learning itself.
れんしゅう — Practice: Using 得意 and 苦手, write three sentences about specific parts of Japanese (a skill, a grammar point, or a task) that describe your own current strengths and weaknesses.
Script and Kanji Strategy
Volume III does not restart kanji from zero. Instead, this chapter reviews strategies for handling kanji you have already studied but do not instantly recognize, and previews how furigana will continue to be reduced across this volume.
When a kanji from an earlier chapter does not come to mind immediately, three strategies are more reliable than guessing: first, check whether the surrounding sentence gives enough context to infer the word even without the exact reading; second, look up the word by typing a plausible reading into an IME and checking the conversion candidates against the meaning you intend; third, keep a running list of words that consistently slow you down, and review that list rather than re-reading entire chapters at random.
From this chapter forward, furigana on Volume II kanji is reduced further than in Volume II itself. New Volume III kanji, such as those introduced above, receive furigana at first appearance and are gradually reduced according to this volume's matrices.
れんしゅう — Practice: Choose three kanji compounds from Volume II that you find yourself hesitating over. For each one, write the word, its reading, and one original sentence using it.
Pronunciation Focus
As this volume moves toward longer spoken tasks, it becomes useful to listen back to your own recordings with a specific checklist rather than a general impression of "did that sound okay." Listen once for content, and listen a second time only for mora timing, vowel length, gemination, and moraic ん, since trying to judge both content and pronunciation at once tends to miss errors in both.
- 評価 (ひょうか): check that the long vowel in ひょう is fully held, distinct from a shortened ひょか.
- 目標 (もくひょう): moraic く and the long vowel in ひょう should both be clearly timed, not compressed into a single beat.
- 構成 (こうせい): the long vowel in こう and the vowel sequence in せい should remain distinct from an under-lengthened こせい.
This kind of self-monitoring becomes an ongoing habit in this volume rather than a single lesson; return to it whenever you record a longer spoken task.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns
This chapter introduces no new grammar system. Instead, it audits and reactivates three systems from Volume II — conditionals, quotation, and relative clauses — and adds explicit attention to topic chains, paragraph structure, and register consistency, all of which this volume will build on directly.
Auditing polite and plain style
Purpose: to notice, in your own recent writing or speech, places where polite and plain forms mix without a clear reason, and to correct them toward one consistent style.
- *日本語は難しいですが、時々楽しいと思う。*Japanese is difficult (polite), but I sometimes think it's fun (plain).unintentional mixing: です ends the first clause, plain 思う ends the second
- 日本語は難しいですが、時々楽しいと思います。Japanese is difficult, but I sometimes think it's fun.corrected: consistent polite style throughout
This kind of mixing is common once learners can produce both styles fluently and are thinking about content rather than form. The correction is not to avoid plain forms, but to choose one register per text or turn and hold it, exactly as Chapter 20 of Volume II practiced for the community profile.
Reactivating conditionals
Purpose: to review the contrast among と, ば, たら, and なら from Volume II before this volume expands their use into more abstract and hypothetical contexts.
- 時間があれば、毎日練習したいです。If I have time, I want to practice every day.ば — general condition
- 分からないことがあったら、先生に聞きます。If there's something I don't understand, I'll ask the teacher.たら — specific future situation
- 日本語をもっと話したいなら、この会に参加するといいですよ。If you want to speak more Japanese, it's a good idea to join this group.なら — responding to the other person's stated situation
Reactivating quotation and relative clauses
Purpose: to confirm control of direct and indirect quotation and of simple relative clauses before this volume extends both into longer, more complex noun phrases.
- 先生は「もっと練習してください」と言いました。The teacher said, "Please practice more."direct quotation with と言いました
- 先生は、もっと練習したほうがいいと言っていました。The teacher said that it would be better to practice more.indirect quotation, plain-form content
- 去年習った文法を、まだよく覚えています。I still remember well the grammar I learned last year.relative clause 去年習った modifies 文法
Topic chains and paragraph structure
Purpose: to organize several sentences around one clear topic, and to arrange those sentences into a recognizable beginning, middle, and end rather than a list.
Grammar Review Practice
- Write one sentence about your Japanese study using ば.
- Write one sentence about your Japanese study using たら.
- Write one sentence quoting something a teacher, friend, or classmate has said to you about your Japanese, using と言っていました.
- Write one sentence with a relative clause describing something you learned, studied, or experienced.
- Check a paragraph you wrote recently and correct any unintentional polite/plain mixing you find.
Model Dialogue
Setting: Emma and Yuki look over Emma's draft self-introduction for the new discussion group.
ないようりかい — Comprehension questions:
- What problem does Yuki notice first in Emma's draft?
- What does Yuki suggest Emma do after writing, to catch this kind of error in the future?
- What does Yuki suggest adding to the end of Emma's introduction, and what sentence does Emma propose?
Guided Practice
タスク１ — Audit a paragraph. Find a paragraph you wrote in Volume II. Underline every sentence-final predicate and mark whether it is polite or plain. Rewrite the paragraph in one consistent style.
タスク２ — Reactivate conditionals. Write one sentence each with ば, たら, and なら about your plans for this volume.
タスク３ — Reactivate quotation. Write one sentence quoting feedback you have received about your Japanese, using と言っていました or と言われました.
タスク４ — Plan your self-assessment. Using the Building Block pattern from the Grammar section, outline five sentences for your own self-assessment: overall level, a strength, a difficulty, a conditional goal, and a closing sentence.
Listening Practice
Ask your instructor, a partner, or a text-to-speech tool to read the following passage aloud at a clear, moderate pace.
きくタスク — A learner's self-assessment, read aloud
私は今、日常生活についてはだいたい話せるようになりました。買い物や旅行の話は得意ですが、意見をきちんと説明することはまだ苦手です。先生には、「理由をもっと詳しく説明したほうがいい」と言われたことがあります。もし機会があったら、意見を言う練習をもっとしたいと思います。これからも、得意なことを生かしながら、苦手なことに挑戦していきたいです。
聞くタスク — Listening task: Identify what the speaker is already good at, what they find difficult, what feedback they received, and what their conditional goal is.
This script reviews self-assessment vocabulary, quotation, a conditional goal statement, and the five-stage Building Block pattern together, as expected on this chapter's Practical Performance Task.
Speaking Practice
コントロールされた練習 — Controlled practice: Quick review answers
- 今、日本語で何が一番得意ですか。
- 今、日本語で何が一番苦手ですか。
- 先生や友達に、日本語について何か言われたことがありますか。
コミュニケーションタスク — Partner self-assessment interview
Interview a partner about their own Japanese learning: what feels secure, what still feels uncertain, what feedback they have received, and what their goal is for this volume. Take notes, since you will use this interview to prepare feedback for your partner's Practical Performance Task.
ひとりでもできる練習 — Solo practice: A rehearsed self-introduction
Using your Guided Practice outline, rehearse and record a one-minute spoken self-assessment for the discussion group described in the Communication Scenario. Listen back and check register consistency, pronunciation, and whether your account has a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Reading Practice
Read the following short discussion-group introduction, then answer the questions below.
自己紹介 — A Discussion Group Introduction
初めまして。私は二年間、日本語を勉強しています。経験について話すことや、意見を言うことは得意になってきましたが、敬語はまだ苦手です。以前、日本語の先生に、「もっと丁寧な言い方も練習したほうがいい」と言われたことがあります。この会に参加する機会があったら、いろいろな人と話しながら、敬語も少しずつ練習していきたいと思います。よろしくお願いします。
Notice that 経験 and 機会, which are less frequent Volume II and Volume III kanji, retain furigana at this early point in the volume, while more consolidated words appear without support.
ないようりかい — Comprehension questions:
- How long has the writer been studying Japanese, and what are they already good at?
- What did a teacher once tell the writer?
- What does the writer plan to do if they get the chance to join the group?
Writing Workshop
In this workshop you will draft the written portion of your Practical Performance Task: a short self-assessment introduction, following the five-stage Building Block pattern from the Grammar section.
- State your overall current level in one or two sentences.
- Name one specific strength, with a concrete example.
- Name one specific difficulty, optionally quoting or paraphrasing feedback you have received.
- State a conditional goal using ば, たら, or なら.
- Close with one sentence connecting back to your opening statement, and revise using the checklist below.
チェックリスト — Editing checklist:
- My introduction states my overall level clearly.
- My introduction names a specific strength with an example.
- My introduction names a specific difficulty.
- My introduction includes a conditional goal using ば, たら, or なら.
- My introduction quotes or paraphrases feedback using an appropriate quotation pattern, if relevant.
- I kept my topic (myself and my Japanese) clear across sentences without unnecessary repetition.
- I maintained one consistent polite or plain style throughout, except inside direct quotations.
- I checked unfamiliar kanji using the strategies in the Script and Kanji Strategy section.
Culture and Communication
Discussion groups, exchange meetups, and online language communities that bring together learners and speakers of Japanese from many countries have become increasingly common, both in Japan and elsewhere. In many such groups, brief self-introductions that name specific strengths and difficulties, rather than only hobbies or hometown, help other participants know how to communicate with a newcomer, though the level of detail expected varies by group and setting.
Some discussion groups are organized formally, with structured self-introductions and moderated turn-taking, while others are informal and conversational from the start. Learners joining a new group should observe how others introduce themselves before assuming a fixed format applies everywhere.
A first self-introduction to a new group is one of the few places where an inconsistent register is especially noticeable, since the audience has no prior context for the writer's usual style. Maintaining one consistent register throughout, as this chapter's Practical Performance Task requires, helps the introduction read as complete and considered rather than as a rough draft.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Error: *日常生活について話すことは得意だ。でも、意見を言うことはまだ苦手です。 switching from plain 得意だ to polite 苦手です within the same short introduction.
Correction: 日常生活について話すことは得意です。でも、意見を言うことはまだ苦手です。 — choose one style for the whole introduction and check it after writing, as modeled in this chapter's Model Dialogue.
Error: *得意なことは会話です。苦手なことは敬語です。目標は敬語を練習することです。 three disconnected sentences with no connectors or topic chaining.
Correction: Use the five-stage Building Block pattern to connect these ideas with appropriate connectors and a consistent topic, so the introduction reads as one account rather than three separate labels.
Error: *敬語を練習します。 stating a goal as a flat future action rather than connecting it to a specific condition, when the surrounding context calls for a conditional framing.
Correction: 敬語を使う機会があったら、練習してみたいです。 — connecting the goal to a specific situation with たら makes the statement feel more natural and realistic in a self-introduction.
Chapter Review
Section A — ごい (Vocabulary)
1. Use 得意, 苦手, 目標, and 気をつける each in one original sentence about your own Japanese study.
Section B — もじ (Script)
1. Write the readings for 評価, 目標, 構成, and 経験 from memory, then check them against the Script and Kanji Strategy section.
Section C — ぶんぽう (Grammar)
1. Complete the five Grammar Review Practice items in the Grammar section above, if you have not already done so.
2. Explain, in your own words, why unintentional polite/plain mixing tends to happen and how to catch it.
Section D — どっかいりかい (Reading comprehension)
1. Look again at the introduction in the Reading Practice section. Write two sentences summarizing it in your own words, maintaining consistent polite style.
Section E — かくこと (Writing)
1. Complete your written self-assessment introduction, following the Writing Workshop steps, as part of the Practical Performance Task below.
Section F — はなすこと (Speaking)
1. Present your rehearsed spoken self-assessment to a partner, instructor, or recording, as part of the Practical Performance Task below.
Practical Performance Task
じっせんパフォーマンスタスク
橋渡し — A self-assessment introduction
Prepare a short self-assessment introduction, as though joining the discussion group described in the Communication Scenario. Complete all three components below.
- Written introduction: Write a connected account of at least five sentences that follows the Building Block pattern from the Grammar section: overall level, a specific strength, a specific difficulty, a conditional goal, and a closing sentence. Maintain one consistent register throughout, except inside any direct quotation.
- Spoken presentation: With a partner, instructor, or recording, present your introduction aloud in about one minute, as though speaking to a new discussion group for the first time.
- Peer or self-audit: Exchange introductions with a partner, or review your own after a break, and check specifically for register consistency, topic clarity, and correct use of at least one conditional and one quotation or paraphrase.
Assessment focus: accurate self-assessment vocabulary; consistent polite or plain register throughout; correct reactivation of conditionals, quotation, and relative clauses from Volume II; clear topic management across a short connected text; a recognizable beginning, middle, and end; and comprehensible pronunciation with attention to mora timing, vowel length, and moraic ん.
Answer Key
Grammar Review Practice
Open-ended; models should follow the patterns shown in the Grammar section. Check that conditional forms match the intended meaning (general condition with ば, specific future situation with たら, responding to another's stated situation with なら) and that quotation and relative-clause sentences are grammatically accurate. Check register consistency in the corrected paragraph.
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- Yuki notices that Emma's draft mixes polite and plain style without a clear reason.
- Yuki suggests checking, after writing, whether the text is consistently in polite style.
- Yuki suggests adding a sentence about a future goal; Emma proposes saying that if she gets a chance to use honorific language, she wants to try practicing it.
Listening task — Model summary
The speaker is already good at talking about shopping and travel, but is still weak at explaining opinions clearly. A teacher told them they should explain their reasons in more detail. Their conditional goal is to practice giving opinions more if they get the chance.
Reading — Comprehension
- The writer has studied Japanese for two years and has become good at talking about experiences and giving opinions.
- A teacher once told the writer that they should also practice more polite ways of speaking.
- If they get the chance to join the group, the writer plans to talk with various people while gradually practicing honorific language.
Chapter Review — Sections A and B
Open-ended; check against the Core Vocabulary and Script and Kanji Strategy sections above.
Chapter Review — Section C
Open-ended for item 1; see Grammar Review Practice guidance above. For item 2, a correct explanation notes that mixing tends to happen when a writer or speaker is focused on content rather than form, and that a separate check after producing the text — reading only for sentence-final forms — helps catch it.
Chapter Review — Section D
Model answer: この人は二年間日本語を勉強していて、経験について話すことや意見を言うことが得意になってきました。でも、敬語はまだ苦手で、もっと練習したいと思っています。 (Other accurate answers accepted.)
Chapter Review — Section E and F, and Practical Performance Task
These are open-ended production tasks. Evaluate the written introduction against the Writing Workshop checklist above, and evaluate the spoken presentation and peer or self-audit against the assessment focus listed under the Practical Performance Task.
Looking Ahead
いまできること — What you can do now
You can talk and write about your own Japanese learning with specific, organized detail, audit your own writing for register consistency, and reactivate conditionals, quotation, and relative clauses from Volume II in a short connected account. You can also apply practical strategies for handling familiar kanji that momentarily escape you. This bridges your B1 foundation from Volume II toward the more independent, B2-level explanation and opinion work that begins in the next chapter.