I'm talking about those people who will say things such as "You're a genius", "You're good at learning languages" as a way to justify their own lack of discipline or willingess to put in the work.
It's easier to say "some people are just good at learning languages" than to actually realize everybody can learn languages and, if you're not learning a language, it's because you're not putting in the work.
If you tell them "Actually, everybody can learn any language if they put in the work", they will tell you something along the lines of "No, I just couldn't", "I have tried. It just doesn't stick" or "I just suck at languages" and it can take a lot of time to explain to them why that's not true and why it's an excuse. Also, the conversation can get confrontational.
On the flip side, if you just accept the compliment even when you know it's not true, it feels fake and like your efforts are being ignored, because you have worked hard to get where you are today.
It's not just that "you're lucky that you're so good at learning languages".
You can brush it off the first few times, but it gets tiring after you've heard it dozens or hundreds of times.
Do you try to explain this to them or do you just thank them for the compliment even though you know they're just coping?
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