上 up　 下 down 　

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 kanari quite well

よく yoku well
すこし sukoshi 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 *** not much

ぜんぜん zenzen *** 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： ともだち ともだち ともだち ともだち

① ② ③ ④
ひらがな
おりがみ
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?