Okay, so I learned a little while ago that

> 私 **は** 日本語 **を** 悪いです

is what you should say.

But someone who is Japanese told me that

> 私 **の** 日本語 **わ** 悪いです

is correct.

So now I'm a little confused. Are both correct? What are the differences; do
you use the sentences in different situations or something?
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2016-02-22T15:28:32.333
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2016-04-13T01:01:47.673
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particle-は particle-の particle-が particle-を
は and を or の and わ
The first one is absolutely not what you should say; it doesn't make any sense
since you're pairing the direct object particle を with an adjective.

The correct way to say what I think you're trying to say would be
"私は日本語が悪いです." The second one also works, although the orthography is wrong; わ
should always be written は when used as a particle.
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2016-02-22T15:34:57.823
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I think you probably meant to write:

> 私は日本語が悪いです。(Lit. As for me, Japanese is bad.)  
>  私の日本語は悪いです。(Lit. My Japanese is bad.)

The word 悪い is a literal translation of the English 'bad'. In Japanese, you
don't use 悪い to say you're not good at something. Instead, I recommend saying:

> 私は日本語が[下手]{へた}です。(Lit. As for me, Japanese is poor/unskillful.)  
>  私は日本語が[上手]{じょうず}ではありません。(Lit. As for me, Japanese is not good/skillful.)  
>  私の日本語は[下手]{へた}です。(Lit. My Japanese is poor/unskillful.)

Grammatically speaking, both 「私は～が・・・」 and 「私の～は・・・」 are acceptable here
(though the focus might be different). Similarly, you could say:

> 山田さんは[髪]{かみ}が[長]{なが}いです。(Lit. As for Yamada-san, hair is long.)  
>  山田さんの髪は長いです。(Lit. Yamada-san's hair is long.)

to say 'Yamada-san has long hair'.
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2016-02-22T16:12:16.870
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2016-02-26T09:08:11.447
2016-02-26T09:08:11.447
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