watashi wa eigo ga nigate da ga, nihongo wa nigate de wa nai.

I’m not good at English, but I’m not bad at Japanese.

Breakdown of watashi wa eigo ga nigate da ga, nihongo wa nigate de wa nai.

• は: topic particle
• 私わたし: I
• 日に本ほん語ご: Japanese (language)

Questions & Answers about watashi wa eigo ga nigate da ga, nihongo wa nigate de wa nai.

Why is 英語 marked with が instead of を or は?

With adjectives like 好き, 嫌い, 上手, 下手, 得意, 苦手, the thing you like/dislike/are good or bad at is marked with が. So 私は英語が苦手 = As for me, English is (something I’m) bad at. Using を is ungrammatical here; は is possible but adds contrast (see next questions).

What does は do on 私 and on 日本語? Are there two topics?

Yes. 私は sets the overall topic (as for me). In the second clause, 日本語は sets a new, contrastive topic (as for Japanese). This contrast pairs naturally with the but relationship.

Could I say 英語は苦手だ instead of 英語が苦手だ? How does it change the nuance?

Yes. 英語は苦手だ is fine and sounds a bit more contrastive (as for English, I’m bad at it). In your sentence, using 英語は would also work and would mirror the later 日本語は. 英語が苦手だ is more neutral/statement-like.

Are the two が in the sentence the same?

No. The first が after 英語 is the subject marker. The が in だが is a conjunction meaning but/though.