syouziki ni iu to, kyou no siken ha amari zisin ga arimasen.

It is a very common expression meaning to be honest or honestly speaking.

Literally, it is something like if I say it honestly:

• 正直に = honestly
• 言うと = if I say

In natural English, though, you usually just translate it as to be honest.

正直 is a na-adjective / noun-like word, and に turns it into an adverb.

So:

• 正直 = honest, honesty
• 正直に = honestly

This is the same pattern as:

• 静か → 静かに = quietly
• 丁寧 → 丁寧に = politely, carefully

So 正直に言う literally means to speak honestly.

Here, と is acting like a conditional particle: if / when.

So:

• 言う = to say
• 言うと = if I say / when I say

In 正直に言うと, this works as a set phrase meaning to be honest.

This と is not the quotation particle here. It is part of the pattern verb + と meaning if/when.

Because 今日 and 試験 are both nouns here, and Japanese usually uses の to connect one noun to another.

So:

• 今日 = today
• 試験 = exam
• 今日の試験 = today’s exam / the exam today

If 今日 is directly modifying a noun, の is normally needed.

は marks the topic of the sentence.

So 今日の試験は means something like:

• as for today’s exam...
• about today’s exam...

The speaker is setting today’s exam as the topic, and then commenting on it:

• 今日の試験は、あまり自信がありません。

This is very natural Japanese sentence structure:

• Topic は + comment

あまり usually goes with a negative expression and means not very or not much.

So:

• あまり自信がありません = I do not have much confidence / I’m not very confident

This is an important pattern:

• あまり + negative

Examples:

• あまり分かりません。 = I don’t understand very well.
• あまり好きじゃないです。 = I don’t like it very much.

In standard Japanese, あまり normally sounds natural with a negative form.

Because 自信 is used with ある / ない, not with を.

The basic pattern is:

• 自信がある = to have confidence / to be confident
• 自信がない = to not have confidence / to not be confident

So in polite form:

• 自信があります
• 自信がありません

Think of it as a fixed expression. With ある / ない, が is the normal particle here.

Japanese often expresses ideas differently from English.

English says:

• I am confident.

Japanese often uses a noun plus ある:

• 自信がある
• literally: confidence exists

So 自信がありません literally feels like:

• confidence does not exist

But in natural English, you would translate it as:

• I’m not confident
• I don’t have much confidence

The subject is omitted because it is understood from context.

Japanese often leaves out words like I, you, or he/she when they are obvious.

So:

• 今日の試験は、あまり自信がありません。

naturally implies:

• I’m not very confident about today’s exam.

A full version with I would be possible, but it is usually unnecessary:

• 私は今日の試験は、あまり自信がありません。

In many situations, that would sound more explicit than needed.

ありません is the polite negative form of ある.

So:

• 自信がある = plain
• 自信がない = plain negative
• 自信がありません = polite negative

You could also hear:

• 自信がないです

That is also common in conversation, but ありません sounds a bit more standard and formal.

So this sentence has a polite, normal spoken/written style.

Here are the main readings:

• 正直 = しょうじき
• 言う = いう
• 今日 = きょう
• 試験 = しけん
• 自信 = じしん
• ありません = ありません

So the full sentence is read:

しょうじき に いう と、きょう の しけん は あまり じしん が ありません。