Every-so-often Grammar/Phrase/Word

~ようになる (~ you ni naru)
Basic meanings: reach the point where ~; come to ~; come to be that ~; have finally become
Comments: Some change takes place gradually
Key sentences:

1. ジャクソンさんは日本語が話せるようになった。
   jakuson-san wa nihongo ga hanaseru you ni natta.
   Mr. Jackson has reached the point where he can speak Japanese.
2. 林さんは酒を飲まないようになった。
   hayasi-san wa sake o nomanai you ni natta.
   Mr. Hayashi doesn't drink [alcohol] anymore. (lit. Mr. Hayashi has reached the point where he no longer drinks [alcohol].)

Formation: (plain imperfect verb) ようになる
Additional examples:

1. 遂に、難しい日本語が読めるようになった。
   tui ni, muzukasii nihongo ga yomeru you ni natta.
   Finally, I've reached the point where I can read difficult Japanese.
2. もうすぐ分かるようになるよ。
   mou sugu wakaru you ni naru yo.
   You'll soon come to understand.
3. 中田さんは私と話さないようになった。
   nakada-san wa watasi to hanasanai you ni natta.
   Miss Nakada doesn't talk to me anymore.
4. 漢字が読めるようにならなかった。
   kanji ga yomeru you ni naranakatta.
   I haven't yet reached the point where I can read kanji.
5. 汚くする人がたくさんいたので、今はこの教室で食べ物を食べてはいけないようになっている。
   kitanaku suru hito ga takusan ita node, ima wa kono kyousitu de tabemono o tabete wa ikenai you ni natte iru.
   Because there were so many messy people, we're no longer allowed to eat food in this classroom.

Usage notes:

1. Although ように (you ni) indicates a gradual change, it can have the meaning of a sudden change when an appropriate adjective (such as 急に [kyuuni] = suddenly) is used. However, ~なくなる (-naku naru) is more typically used to express non-gradual change.
2. ようになっている (you ni natte iru) indicates the state resulting from change that has come about after a (usually long) process. Generally, the state is considered to be permanent or at least not likely to change in the forseeable future. For instance, you could could use ようになっている to describe a street that has become so badly damaged that you can't drive on it any more, or a road that's closed for the time being, or something like in example sentence 5.
3. Note the differing meanings of the two ways of negating the expression, as in key sentence 2 and example 3 (negating the associated clause), and example sentence 4 (negating なる [naru]).