Check
You can pick any "Challenge" but it will be easier if you start from 【CHALLENGE 01】
Each challenge focuses on a specific topic/situation. Once you learn the base format, the rest is up to your vocabulary.
It will be very useful if you learn the Sound of Hiragana, and Commonly used words.
Check out Survival Japanese "Boot Camp Series" for building vocabulary!
【Challenge 05】covers a negative form of "desu" = "janai desu"
You will see some exceptions in this challenge video. Japanese has a lot of exception rules but Survival Japanese will minimize the need to learn them. If a little tweak works, so be it. Even though traditional textbooks don't teach you, if it's good enough, polite enough, and accurate enough, you will learn it here.
Let's view the challenge video!
A little tip
「じゃないです・janaidesu」means "not so". Words that come before this can be noun, adjective, adverb, or adjectival verb. But let's not worry about them. We take advantage of "janai" by using it right after positive form (with a split second gap in between) just like shown in the video.
One rule worth remembering though... "kunai" instead of "janai"
Attention!
All Japanese adjectives (in base form) end with "い・i". For example:
あたらしい・atarasii (new)
おいしい・oisii (delicious)
おおきい・ookii (big/large)
とおい・tōi (far)
ふるい・hurui (old)
When you want to say "not so~" for these adjectives, instead of using "じゃない・janai",
remove ”い (i)" and add ”くない (kunai)", that makes it grammatically perfect:
あたらしい・atarasii (new) ⇒ あたらしくない
おいしい・oisii (delicious) ⇒ おいしくない
おおきい・ookii (big/large) ⇒ おおきくない
とおい・tōi (far) ⇒ とおくない
ふるい・hurui (old) ⇒ ふるくない
But if not, it's still ok to use "Survival" way:
あたらしい・じゃないです atarasii janaidesu
おいしい・じゃないです oisii janaidesu
おおきい・じゃないです ookii janaidesu
とおい・じゃないです tōi janaidesu
ふるい・じゃないです hurui janaidesu
The key is to insert a very short gap in between.
Let's listen to some conversation. How much can you pick up?
いま、いそがしい ですか？(Are you busy tomorrow?)
ima, isogasii desuka?
いそがし、くないです。 いそがしい、じゃないです。(no, I'm not busy. )
isogasi kunai desu. isogasii, janai desu.
この げーむ、おもしろい ですか？ (Is this game good?)
kono gēmu, omosiroi desuka?
おもしろ くない。ぜんぜん、おもしろくない。 おもしろい、じゃない。(not at all.)
omosiro kunai. zenzen, omosirokunai. omosiroi, janai.
この みせ の りょうり、すき ですか？(Do you like the food at this restaurant ?)
kono mise no ryōri, suki desuka?
すき じゃない。あまり、すきじゃないです。(No. not much.)
suki janai. amari, suki janai desu.
あのくらす、むずかしい？ (Is that class hard?)
ano kurasu, muzukasii?
むずかし くないよ。でも、しゅくだいが おおいよ。(it's not. But lots of homework)
muzukasi kunai yo. demo, syukudai ga ooi yo.
"janai" and "kunai"
Check!
If you have any questions on this challenge, check out the Q&A section to see if you can find answers. Or, you can submit your questions from HERE.
