This has been something that’s confused me for a while. When do I use とくい and when do I use じょうず? For example, if I’m trying to say “I’m not very good at Japanese”, do I say “日本語を喋るのはあまり上手じゃないです”, or do I say “日本語あまり得意じゃないです”? And how do I know when to use which? Is it just a formality thing or a grammar thing?
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In context it sounds like 上手 is just standard “good at” but 得意 has more of a “that’s my specialty” or “I’m an expert” connotation.
得意 is more like “specialty”. So it doesn’t really make sense to say 日本語はあまり得意じゃない unless you were, say, a professor in East Asian Studies who doesn’t focus on Japanese and for some reason you felt the need to be specific
I think both are fine. And you can also say “日本語はあまりうまくないです”. In Japan, students are taught that “good at” means “得意”, so you can use “得意” for “good at”. For me, “日本語はあまり得意じゃないです” feels a little bit more natural because I think Japanese people tend not to make a sentence that includes the word “上手(じょうず)” when explaining themselves. Instead, they tend to use “うまい(上手い)”.
To put it simply, じょうず is for complementing others and とくい is to express your own ability.
Calling yourself じょうず can come across as a little arrogant