Foreign Language Learning and Teaching

To many people, the most obvious way of reducing some of the power of the language barrier is to promote the teaching and learning of foreign languages in a variety of child and adult education settings. This widely practised approach is undoubtedly very successful, as can be judged by the millions who succed in mastering a foreign language, even to levels that are comparable to those achieved by 'natural' bilinguals. English-speaking monoglots often express amazement at the linguistic proficiency displayed by foreigners [...] and conclude that foreigners must have a 'gift' for language learning, which they lack, or that English must be a particulary easy language to learn.

There is no basis for these suggestions. A few gifted language learners do exist, but most people arrive at their fluency only as a result of hard work, expended over a considerable period of time.

(From Crystal, David. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language. Cambridge University Press, 1987)

Use o contexto para inferir o significado de gift em "...foreigners must have a 'gift' for language learning ...".