My mother and I were talking about my niece's five-year-old son. My niece had asked me to teach him to play music — she had bought him a toy piano. Leaving aside the fact that I can't play the piano myself — I play string instruments — I expressed that it's impossible to teach him anything if he doesn't show an interest in it. And why would he? Nobody in his family plays any musical instruments. They don't even really listen to music that often. I remembered a distant relative who played a lot of instruments, and how he's probably influenced my desire to go to music school.

So my mother goes, "You were always talented! When you were all of two years old, you were playing your own toy piano and comparing sounds." I told her that didn't mean anything. And calling any of my achievements "a talent" is straight up insulting. It isn't that hard for a kid to get into music school — they just check your ability to distinguish sounds and make sure you have a sense of rhythm. And anything after that is the result of hard work. My mother didn't agree with me. She kept repeating her talent mantra. Nothing could convince her — not the blood and tears I shed (both are literal — the strings were very sharp and the pain was real), not the years of solfeggio where we were taught how to distinguish sounds and intervals by ear, how to figure out time signatures, how to read music, etc. Even though I've forgotten most of it, some of those skills will remain with me forever. Well, just like you can't teach an old dog new tricks, you can't change an old woman's mind.

I've heard the same sentiment in the language learning community. Some polyglots are offended when they hear, "You know so many languages! You're so talented!" What about the hours invested in it?! It doesn't come in a pill — you have to work for it.

Maybe it's easier for some than others to learn skills like languages or music, but I still want to believe that anyone can learn anything through sheer effort and willpower.