Learn Hardcore Greek: Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον. - My goal is to speak Greek well in the future.

Ο στόχος μου = my goal / target
Σκοπός is also translated as purpose / aim, but it often sounds a bit more like purpose / function / reason, rather than a concrete target.

In this sentence:

Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.
→ You’re talking about a specific goal you want to reach, so στόχος is very natural.

You could say Ο σκοπός μου…, but it would sound more like “my purpose” and is less common in everyday speech for this kind of personal-learning goal.

Why is μου placed after στόχος and not before, like in English?

Greek typically places the weak (unstressed) possessive pronoun after the noun:

ο στόχος μου = my goal
το βιβλίο σου = your book
το σπίτι του = his house

English: my goal
Greek: ο στόχος μου (literally: the goal my)

You can also use a strong form of the pronoun before the noun, but this is more emphatic and less neutral:

ο δικός μου στόχος = my own goal / my particular goal

In this sentence, you just want a neutral my goal, so ο στόχος μου is the normal and correct word order.

What is the function of είναι in Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω…? Can I leave it out?

Είναι is the verb “to be”:

Ο στόχος μου είναι… = My goal is…

The structure is:

[subject] + είναι + [complement with να]
Ο στόχος μου (subject)
είναι (verb “is”)
να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον (what the goal is)

In fully standard Greek, you normally keep the verb είναι.
You might occasionally see or hear something like:

Ο στόχος μου: να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.

with a colon, but that is more like a stylistic or note-taking form (“My goal: to speak…”), not a full sentence.
For a complete sentence, you should say:

Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.

What does να do in να μιλάω?

Να introduces a subjunctive clause in Greek. Very often, να + verb translates to English as:

to + verb
that I / you / he … do something
or as part of an expression of wish, plan, obligation, etc.

In this sentence:

να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά = to speak Greek well

Grammatically, να is like a subjunctive marker or linker that turns μιλάω into something like “(that I) speak / (for me) to speak”.
The phrase να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον works as the complement of είναι:

Ο στόχος μου είναι [να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον].
→ My goal is [to speak Greek well in the future].

Why is it μιλάω and not μιλήσω? What is the difference?

Greek verbs have two main aspects in the subjunctive:

Imperfective (continuous): here να μιλάω
Perfective (single / completed): να μιλήσω

Να μιλάω = to be (generally) speaking / to speak habitually / to have the ability to speak
Να μιλήσω = to speak once / to say something (on one occasion)

So:

Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.
→ My goal is to speak Greek well in general in the future (have a good, ongoing ability).

If you said:

Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλήσω ελληνικά στο μέλλον.

this would sound like you just want to speak Greek once in the future (for example, give one speech or have one conversation). That’s not what you mean when you’re talking about learning the language as a skill, so να μιλάω is the natural choice.

What’s the difference between μιλάω and μιλώ? Which one should I use?

For many verbs in Greek, there are two equivalent present forms:

μιλάω
μιλώ

Both mean I speak and both can be used in the present and subjunctive:

(Εγώ) μιλάω / μιλώ ελληνικά. = I speak Greek.
Θέλω να μιλάω / μιλώ ελληνικά. = I want to speak Greek.

μιλάω tends to sound a bit more colloquial / everyday,
μιλώ sounds a bit more formal or neutral.

In this sentence, both are correct:

Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.
Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλώ καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.

As a learner, it’s perfectly fine to pick one pattern (usually μιλάω) and stick with it, but you should be able to recognize both.

Why is it καλά and not καλός?

Καλός is an adjective (good), and καλά is an adverb (well).

καλός: describes a noun
- καλός άνθρωπος = a good person
καλά: describes a verb
- μιλάω καλά = I speak well

In this sentence, you are describing how you speak:

να μιλάω καλά = to speak well (adverb)

If you said να μιλάω καλός, it would be wrong, because you’d be trying to use an adjective where an adverb is needed.

Why is ελληνικά in the neuter plural, and why is it not capitalized?

Ελληνικά here is the neuter plural form of the adjective ελληνικός, -ή, -ό (Greek), used as a noun meaning “the Greek language”.

This is very common in Greek:

τα ελληνικά = Greek (the language)
τα αγγλικά = English
τα γαλλικά = French
τα ισπανικά = Spanish

You often omit the article when speaking generally:

Μιλάω ελληνικά. = I speak Greek.
Μαθαίνω ελληνικά. = I’m learning Greek.

About capitalization:

In modern Greek, names of languages are usually written with a lowercase letter:
- ελληνικά, αγγλικά, γαλλικά
Nationalities and ethnic adjectives referring to people are capitalized:
- Έλληνας, Ελληνίδα, Αγγλίδα, Γάλλος

So ελληνικά (the language) is normally not capitalized in current standard usage.

Why is the order καλά ελληνικά and not ελληνικά καλά?

In Greek, adverbs like καλά usually appear before the verb or right after it, and when combined closely with an object, καλά tends to come before the object noun phrase:

μιλάω καλά ελληνικά (the usual, neutral order)
Literally: “I speak well Greek.”

If you say:

μιλάω ελληνικά καλά

it is still understandable, but the rhythm is less natural, and it may sound like you are slightly emphasizing the word ελληνικά.

The standard, natural word order for this sentence is:

να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά
rather than
να μιλάω ελληνικά καλά.

What exactly is στο μέλλον, and why do we use στο here?

Στο is the contraction of:

σε (in / at / to)
το (the – neuter singular)

So:

σε + το μέλλον → στο μέλλον = in the future

Μέλλον is a neuter singular noun meaning future. Greek often uses σε + article + time noun for time expressions:

στο παρελθόν = in the past
στο παρόν = in the present
στο μέλλον = in the future

You could also express future time differently, for example:

Στο μέλλον θέλω να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά.
Κάποια μέρα θέλω να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά.

But in this sentence, στο μέλλον simply and naturally means “in the future”.

Is the word order fixed, or can I rearrange parts of the sentence?

Greek word order is more flexible than English, but some versions are much more natural. Your sentence:

Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.

Alternative orders that are still natural:

Ο στόχος μου για το μέλλον είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά.
(My goal for the future is to speak Greek well.)
Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω στο μέλλον καλά ελληνικά.
(understandable, but the placement of στο μέλλον feels a bit less smooth)

If you move things too much, it starts to sound forced or unclear. The original:

Ο στόχος μου είναι να μιλάω καλά ελληνικά στο μέλλον.

is a very clear, natural, and typical way to say this in Greek.