Confidence has never been your strong point

[Marina Gaidar]

In this sentence "Confidence has never been your strong point" the expression "strong point" looks for me as a word-for-word translation from Russian. May be there is some other more English-like phrase to express the same meaning "the strong point of somebody's character"? Or it is ok?

[5jj]

It's a completely natural English expression. It just happens that Russian uses a similar idea.

[TheParser]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Ms. Gaidar:


You probably know this, but some people in the United States also like to say or write:

"Confidence has never been your forte."

(Mr. Bryan A. Garner, an outstanding usage expert, claims that most Americans pronounce it as for-tay -- not as

fort, which he says is how the French pronounce it.)

I have no idea how most people pronounce it. As you can see, self-confidence is not my strong point.


James

[Marina Gaidar]

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Ms. Gaidar:


You probably know this, but some people in the United States also like to say or write:

"Confidence has never been your forte."

(Mr. Bryan A. Garner, an outstanding usage expert, claims that most Americans pronounce it as for-tay -- not as

fort, which he says is how the French pronounce it.)

I have no idea how most people pronounce it. As you can see, self-confidence is not my strong point.


James

That's new for me that people in the USA say like this. I've never heard it before. For me it is really difficult to understand how I should say and write - in British English or American English. I even do not mention that there are plenty of other English speaking countries!

[TheParser]

For me it is really difficult to understand how I should say and write - in British English or American English. I even do not mention that there are plenty of other English speaking countries!

***** NOT A TEACHER *****


Hello, Ms. Gaidar:


According to many of the great teachers here, it does not matter that much which variety of English you choose.

Personally, I do not agree with them, but I do not have the guts (courage) to tell you which variety that I think you

should choose.

Besides self-confidence, courage is not my forte, either!


James

[Barb_D]

There is also "my strong suit" - a reference to playing cards, I believe.

[5jj]

For me it is really difficult to understand how I should say and write - in British English or American English.

It doesn't really matter which you speak. Ideally you should try to be consistent, but that is not always possible for learners. The main purpose of using a language is to communicate your message. Using an occasional American English spelling, pronunciation and/or word if your model variety is British English (or vice versa) is not a tragedy.

[Marina Gaidar]

There is also "my strong suit" - a reference to playing cards, I believe.

My dictionary suggested me this variant, but it didn't suggest that it was about cards. Thanks! Now I will know it!

[Marina Gaidar]

It doesn't really matter which you speak. Ideally you should try to be consistent, but that is not always possible for learners. The main purpose of using a language is to communicate your message. Using an occasional American English spelling, pronunciation and/or word if your model variety is British English (or vice versa) is not a tragedy.

I hope so, because it is really impossible to know all the differences!