Just a quick question: If I wanted to say "For me it’s hard to speak
Japanese." would it be correct to say 私は日本語を話しにくいです。or would that be
unnatural? And do I have to use を or で after 日本語 (日本語で話しにくいです。)?
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2023-08-09T14:46:12.513
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2023-08-10T03:00:52.283
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question
grammar particles
How to say "For me it’s hard to speak Japanese"?
Aしにくい is used when you basically have the ability to do A but there is an
objective problem or obstacle that makes it difficult to do A. You cannot use
it when something is difficult due to a lack of your ability itself. For
example, 踊りにくい can be used when it's hard to dance because the place is too
crowded, because the floor is slippery, or because you have a physical
problem. But if it's simply because you're a bad dancer, you cannot use it.
Likewise, 日本語を話しにくい means that you can usually speak Japanese fluently but
it's temporarily hard to do so, for example, because of a security concern.

In your case, if you mean "Speaking Japanese is difficult to me", the correct
sentence is:

> (私には)日本語を話すのは難しいです。

As for 日本語を話す vs 日本語で話す, 日本語を話す is like "to speak Japanese" and 日本語で話す is like
"to speak/talk **in** Japanese". If you have some specific topic or sentence
in mind, 日本語で話す is more natural. See: [Difference between を話す and
で話す](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/24866/5010)
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2023-08-10T03:00:52.283
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