Topic: It is generally believed that some people are born with certain talents, for instance for sport or music, and others are not. However, it is sometimes claimed that any child can be taught to become a good sports person or musician.

Discuss both these views and give your own opinion.

Model answer:

The relative importance of natural talent and training is a frequent topic of discussion when people try to explain different levels of ability in, for example, sport, art or music.

Obviously, education systems are based on the belief that all children can effectively be taught to acquire different skills, including those associated with sport, art or music. So, from our own school experience, we can find plenty of evidence to support the view that a child can acquire these skills with continued teaching and guided practice.

However, some people believe that innate talent is what differentiates a person who has been trained to play a sport or an instrument, from those who become good players. In other words, there is more to the skill than a learned technique, and this extra talent cannot be taught, no matter how good the teacher or how frequently a child practices.

I personally think that some people do have talents that are probably inherited via their genes. Such talents can give individuals a facility for certain skills that allow them to excel, while more hard-working students never manage to reach a comparable level. But, as with all questions of nature versus nurture, they are not mutually exclusive. Good musicians or artists and exceptional sports stars have probably succeeded because of both good training and natural talent. Without the natural talent, continuous training would be neither attractive nor productive, and without the training, the child would not learn how to exploit and develop their talent.

In conclusion, I agree that any child can be taught particular skills, but to be really good in areas such as music, art or sport, then some natural talent is required.

TỪ VỰNG TRONG BÀI

• Các từ đồng nghĩa với “innate talent”: natural talent, inborn talent, natural gift, hereditary talent,...

• Acquire /əˈkwaɪɚ/ (v): nhận được, thu được (to obtain or begin to have something)

• Associate with /əˈsoʊ.ʃi.eɪt/ (v): kết hợp với (to connect someone or something in your mind with someone or something else)

• Differentiate /ˌdɪf.əˈren.ʃi.eɪt/ (v): phân biệt, dấu hiệu của sự khác nhau (to show or find the difference between things that are compared)

• Via /ˌvɑɪ·ə, ˌvi·ə/ (preposition): thông qua (by way of, or by use of)

• Excel /ɪkˈsel/ (v): trội hơn xuất sắc hơn (to do something very well or be highly skilled, and be better than most others)

• Mutually exclusive: loại trừ lẫn nhau