It Is Generally Believed That Some People Are Born With Certain Talents

Lilie King
Written by Lilie

7.5 in Academic Writing

February 3, 2022

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.

This essay question is from Cambridge IELTS 7 Test 1 Writing Task 2.

Sample Essay

Conventional wisdom says that some people have an innate ability in certain areas and others do not. However, this is sometimes challenged by the claim that, with training, any child can become good at certain things. I agree with the conventional wisdom because even though training helps a person improve, genes determine the highest point they can reach.

On the one hand, some people argue that education can make up for a lack of talent. It teaches children what they need to do to progress. With practice, they can improve a lot from where they started. However, I think education can only get a person so far. Even with great improvement, they may still lack the ability to reach the highest level.

On the other hand, conventional wisdom tells us that certain talents can only be inherited. Take for example Michael Phelps, the greatest Olympian of all time. His relatively long torso and short legs along with the wide shoulders and narrow hips allowed him to generate more powerful kicks, maintain better balance and create less resistance in the water than the average swimmer. This kind of body type is definitely not something one can attain through training. I agree with this argument because if the claim of coaching were true, swimmers who trained with Phelps under the same coach could have reached the same level of success as he did.

In conclusion, a person that lacks a certain gift can only go so far in that area even with the help of training. To become extremely good at something, native abilities are needed.

264 Words

How to Paraphrase “Talent”

  • Innate ability
  • Inborn ability
  • Native ability
  • Gift

3-Day Writing Task 2 Challenge

6 CommentsLeave A Comment

  1. Please, mam give me some some solutions so that i can generate ideas.I can think many ideas in my native thoughts but when its come to English, i can not write more and more words

  2. Hey Lillie, your writing style is quite awesome and I follow your style. But its little difficult to generate ideas. Can you give some ideas for this?
    Love from Nepal

    1. Thanks for your kind words, Bikash. I think there are no shortcuts when it comes to idea generation, and you have to put in the effort to become more knowledgeable. I used to listen to podcasts every day and this really helped. I recommend WSJ tech news briefing.

  3. Hey Lilie, can you give me a feedback on this messy one of mine.

    Some people believe that success in some activities or sports is due to the ability given while others think that talent is not a limit and things that normally require talent can be taught. I think as long as someone tries hard they can acquire any skills they want without any need for talent.

    On the one hand, some people are born with some privileges in some abilities. Imagine a child was born with really long legs compared to its peers, this situation might affect their success in a sport like the long jump. However, I don’t think that this privilege coming from born is enough to achieve something that requires hard working also. Put in other words, without working on it and improving it, a privilage that is considered as talent means nothing in order to become good at something.

    On the other hand, working on something apart from ablility makes things stronger and ensure absolute success. For instance, a person who was not given in order to some talents can easily become good at something that others think it requires talent. I agree with this argument because, when a person really wants it and puts some efford on it, they really can achieve amazing things whether they are talented or not. The ability is not the limit, the only limit they can encounter is themself.

    In conclusion, although some privilages coming from born can be party important in success, I believe it is not a barrier for acquiring a skill and become good at it.

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