Developing Ideas in Japanese: Tips to write and speak Japanese better on an exam

Have you come across a moment where you realise every other sentence you say starts with

「私は…」

「私は…」

「私は…」

It’s important you use appropriate sentence starters so your listeners or readers know what to expect.

These are useful Japanese expressions for when you want to present your ideas in an orderly manner. They may come in handy both in writing and speaking tests.

Expressing Opinions

When I talk to my students, I often notice that their sentences are too descriptive. It’s important to present your opinions / personal interpretations after you have describe something. You can use these phrases.

「…と思おもう。」 / I think …

「…と考かんがえられる。」/ It can be thought that …

「…ということは否定ひていできない。」/ I cannot deny that …

「について言えることは…」 / What I can say about this is …

Advantages & Disadvantages

Knowing how to talk about pros and cons can be very powerful when you discuss certain issues. You can use these phrases.

「…の利点りてんは…」,「…いい点は…」or「…の長所ちょうしょは…」/ The good thing about ….is ….

「…の欠点けってんは…」, 「…わるい点は…」or 「…の短所たんしょは…」/ The bad thing about …is …

「…についての問題もんだいは 」/ The issue about …is…

Giving Examples

Knowing how to give examples will be helpful when you do your speaking test or writing test in Japanese. This will show your teacher you know specific details about you are talking about. You can use these phrases.

「例たとえば…」/ For example

「例たとえをあげると…」/ To give an example

Organising Ideas

It’s important that you use appropriate conjunctions. Make sure what you write or say are not simply a group of disorganised individual sentences. Using these phrases can help you organise ideas in a coherent manner.

「しかし」or「でも」/ but, however

「だとしても」or「とは言いっても」/ In spite of that

「結果けっかとして」/ As a result

「結論けつろんとして」/ In conclusion

「まとめると」/ In summary