I've read somewhere that to say you are not good at something say for example
Japanese language, you use:

> 日本語は上手 **ではありません**

but can I also use:

> 日本語は上手 **じゃありません**

Is there anything wrong with this? What is the difference between the two?
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grammar usage nuances contractions
上手ではありません or 上手じゃありません
じゃ is the contraction of では. It's a contraction, because じゃ is one
[mora](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mora_%28linguistics%29) (one unit length)
and では is two moras long.

じゃ is frequently used as contraction of では, especially in じゃない < ではない. As
pointed out before by one of our native speakers on this site (@l'électeur),
じゃありません is at risk of being overused by learners. Presumably, because the
_uncontracted_ では is a more natural choice to go with the _polite/formal_ form
of ある (which is あります, of course).

(The converse doesn't hold, though: ではない is also extremely common.)

Here are the numbers from the _Balanced Corpus of Contemporary Written
Japanese_

> ではない 66121 results  
>  じゃない 39664 results
>
> ではありません 9910 results  
>  じゃありません 1743 results

(Of course, these numbers are only for _written_ Japanese.)

In any case, there is no difference in meaning between the two phrases. A
remark about your choice of particle, though: You can only say 日本語 **は**
上手ではありません when you use は as the "contrast particle", i.e. when you intend to
compare your Japanese skill to something else. The natural choice for a
standalone statement would be が, as in

> 日本語 **が** 上手ではありません ／ 日本語 **が** 上手じゃありません
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