What to use for output/writing practice?

I’m almost done with n5 but am realizing i’m having a really hard time outputting any sentences.

My understanding / comprehension of all the example sentences so far has been pretty decent but if asked to write a sentence my mind goes blank

In my ideal world i could go through bunpro again except it would give me the sentence hint in english and let write the whole sentence in japanese. Maybe i should take sentences for each point and have chat gpt quiz me. :thinking:

What other supplemental things should i use?..Or is outputting at this stage simply too early and maybe i just focus on immersion.

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It’s not to early for output, start right now!

Pick a few bunpro grammar points and grab a themed word pack (like sports, animals, household chores,…) and then just make some really basic or really silly sentences. You can get themed word packs from chatgpt, or you can make one yourself for a theme you’re interested in.

If that’s too much creative work for you (not everybody loves to be creative), you could also grab any textbook and take a look at their exercises. You’ll probably find a lot of guided sentence forming exercises in those.

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As Chimmsen said, it’s never to early for output.

It’s a totally different skill. It’s like if you look at a statue and think, “That’s a mighty fine statue and I know what tools they probably used.” But that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to create that statue.

Another thing you could try, is at the end of the day, just try writing down something simple about your day. It could even be something as simple as, “the weather was nice today”
And if you’re unfamiliar with the kanji, or how to even spell it without kanji, don’t be afraid to use English to Japanese dictionaries.

Output is by far the hardest part of language (in my opinion, and maybe someone else’s)
So don’t be afraid to make mistakes. It’s how we learn.
Even at my job, my Japanese co workers still make mistakes in Japanese, and I’m pretty sure they’ve been speaking it for longer than me.

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Make a paper that says you should create a sentence in your brain every time you are sitting on the toilet.
It could be a specific grammar point stated on that paper. Also you can put a list of words that you use in toilet so you can build your sentence upon them.
Also you can make a life circle of that “sentence creation” paper by drawing there 9 - 12 - 24 (or else) squares. Then you fill in each for one created sentence. You create them in your mind, they don’t have to be perfect, just complete, mb you want to say them out loud without stopping.
You can create such a paper for every location where you have some waiting time, like shower for example, or maybe even dish washing sink.

When you fill in all the squares on paper switch it to paper with new grammar point.

This is one element of system I’m trying to create for my pupil who learn English. The main thing here is to make one’s brain think in TL all the time.

Not sure thou how well it will work, maybe if you try I’ll get some feedback

Try following some japanese creators and commenting on their posts/videos

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The old school but effective method is to take an example sentence and modify it by plugging in different parts of speech, like the noun or adjective to make a new sentence that you know is still grammatically correct. Bonus points for handwriting it on paper and reading aloud. Nothing beats muscle memory.

Example Practice for Grammar Point から:
Bunpro Sentence: 昨日きのうアイスクリーム沢山たくさんべたから、おなかいたいです。
My Sentence: 昨日、コーヒーをたくさん飲んだから、お腹が痛いです。

In my sentence I replaced the object and the verb. I had to lookup how to conjugate 飲む. :sob:

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