Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. Let’s learn Japanese language with us. We start with a basic pattern as seen below.

[N1 は N2 です。]　　*N refers to a noun.
1) Particle は
The particle は indicates that the word before it is the topic of the sentence. You select a noun you want to talk about, add は to show that it is the topic and give a statement about the topic.
　　　　　わたしは　トム・スミスです。　　　　　I am Tom Smith.
*Note that the particle は is read わ.
2) です
Noun used with です works as predicates.
です indicates judgement of assertion.
です also conveys that hte speaker is being polite towards the listener.
です inflects when the sentence is negative or in the past tense (you will learn later).
　　　　　わたしは　エンジニアです。　　　　　I am an egineer.

[N1 は N2 じゃ　ありません。]
じゃ　ありません is the negative form of です. It is the form ussed in daily conversation. For a formal speech or writing, では　ありません is used instead.
　　　　　ミラーさんは　学生じゃありません。　　　　　Mr. Miller is not a student.

June 1st News, from NILS Japanese language school.