Differentiate 'niwa" and "ni" when indicating a position


I am here again! I am just starting learning this amazing language and thanks
for everyone's help.

So I heard that to say "I speak fast in English" I say:

> Egoniwa hayakuhanashimasu.

What does the particle "niwa" help in _hear_. Similarly, when I say "I have 7
people in my family" I say:

> Kazuhanimwa ichijinin imasu (not sure of spelling).

However, when I say "my children are in America" (I don't have any), I say:

> watashino kudomawa americani imasu.

So what do "niwa" and "ni" have in common or what are their differences?

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    Correct me if I misunderstood anything. And thanks again for everyone's help!
    
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Both に and は are very common Japanese particles, with completely different
purposes.

  * **に ("ni") is a place marker** , like English 'in' or 'at'.
  * **は ("wa") is a topic marker**. It's somewhat similar to English 'speaking of ～' or 'regarding ～'.
  * に and は can be combined, and the meaning is just the combination of the two. It's translated as "In ～, ..." at the beginning of the sentence.

### I speak English fast.

Perhaps you have misheard something. You don't need the place marker に ("ni")
to say this, and I have no idea how I can use に. You only need the topic
marker は, which replaces を ("o"), the object marker. (Read "Object as Topic"
section in [this page](http://www.japaneseprofessor.com/lessons/beginning/the-
topic-marker-wa/) if you are not sure)

> えいごは はやく はなします。  
>  Eigo wa hayaku hanashimasu.  
>  (lit. "As for English, [I] speak [it] fast.")

### I have 7 people in my family.

Your "Japanese" sentence has a lot of spelling errors, but did you want to say
the following?

> かぞく に は しちにん います。  
>  Kazoku ni wa shichi-nin imasu.  
>  (lit. "In my family, seven (people) exist.")

Okay, this is not very natural, but at least grammatical and understandable.
Here, かぞく is marked with both the place marker and the topic marker
simultaneously. に is used (but actually not required in this case) because
you're talking about who is **in** your family. は is required because かぞく is
the topic of the whole sentence.

### My children are in America.

> わたし の こども は アメリカ に います。  
>  watashi no kodomo wa america ni imasu.  
>  (lit. "As for my children, [they] exist in America.")

Again I corrected the obvious spelling errors. In this case, アメリカ is marked
with only に, because the topic of this sentence is something else.




Both に and は are very common Japanese particles, with completely different
purposes.

  * **に ("ni") is a place marker** , like English 'in' or 'at'.
  * **は ("wa") is a topic marker**. It's somewhat similar to English 'speaking of ～' or 'regarding ～'.
  * に and は can be combined, and the meaning is just the combination of the two. It's translated as "In ～, ..." at the beginning of the sentence.

### I speak English fast.

Perhaps you have misheard something. You don't need the place marker に ("ni")
to say this, and I have no idea how I can use に. You only need the topic
marker は, which replaces を ("o"), the object marker. (Read "Object as Topic"
section in [this page](http://www.japaneseprofessor.com/lessons/beginning/the-
topic-marker-wa/) if you are not sure)

> えいごは はやく はなします。  
>  Eigo wa hayaku hanashimasu.  
>  (lit. "As for English, [I] speak [it] fast.")

### I have 7 people in my family.

Your "Japanese" sentence has a lot of spelling errors, but did you want to say
the following?

> かぞく に は しちにん います。  
>  Kazoku ni wa shichi-nin imasu.  
>  (lit. "In my family, seven (people) exist.")

Okay, this is not very natural, but at least grammatical and understandable.
Here, かぞく is marked with both the place marker and the topic marker
simultaneously. に is used (but actually not required in this case) because
you're talking about who is **in** your family. は is required because かぞく is
the topic of the whole sentence.

### My children are in America.

> わたし の こども は アメリカ に います。  
>  watashi no kodomo wa america ni imasu.  
>  (lit. "As for my children, [they] exist in America.")

Again I corrected the obvious spelling errors. In this case, アメリカ is marked
with only に, because the topic of this sentence is something else.

