と言えば and は as a topic marker.


For some reason I cannot seem to internalize は no matter what I do.  
I received a great explanation 4-5 days ago on this site but I don't know why
I can't internalize it no matter what.  
While reading today I found と言えば and a question came into my mind.  
If I used と言えば would the sentence change in meaning?

Example:

> あいつは 相手が強ければ強いほど 負けまいとして  
>  その強さに夢中で対応してきた

は somehow throws me off.

If I said:

> あいつと言えば 相手が強ければ強いほど 負けまいとして  
>  その強さに夢中で対応してきた

Would the meaning change?  
Could I just use と言えば in my mind until は becomes natural or that would be a
big mistake?




If it helps you in understanding it then by all means! I usually think of は as
"IS" in English but I can see why it can be confusing as a topic marker. For
me, と言えば has the feeling of "speaking of _someone_ , he is blah blah", but I
don't think it really changes the meaning though.

This [link](http://www.japaneseprofessor.com/lessons/beginning/the-topic-
marker-wa/) also explains は as "As for _subject_ ", maybe that helps? Under
that assumption then it is similar to と言えば.




If it helps you in understanding it then by all means! I usually think of は as
"IS" in English but I can see why it can be confusing as a topic marker. For
me, と言えば has the feeling of "speaking of _someone_ , he is blah blah", but I
don't think it really changes the meaning though.

This [link](http://www.japaneseprofessor.com/lessons/beginning/the-topic-
marker-wa/) also explains は as "As for _subject_ ", maybe that helps? Under
that assumption then it is similar to と言えば.

