[MuRaSaKiiNkI]

Kyle, です is the polite form of だ, silly :P

But yeah, you're spot on.

Also, if you're interested in colloquial speech, the verbs are very easy to memorize, because they all end in with an う sound--I learned verbs this way:

行かない plain present negative
行きますpolite present positive
行く plain present positive
行けば if
行こう let's do

SO...

other verbs are like this: 見る　to see 読む　to read 聞く to listen/ask, etc.

also

行かなかった　plain past negative (uses the あ sound)
行った　(ta-form) for plain past positive

SO...

図書館へいったよ～　I went to the library.
学校へ行く？ You going to school?
飲みすがなかったね。　I didn't drink too much, right?
ソーダーを飲まないんだよ～　If course I don't drink soda.

and so on and so forth, hope that helps (and I hope that's right, I'm not perfect in colloquial speech either :P)