In Australia, although it has changed significantly in the past 30 years due to migration, it is quite common for people of Anglo background to only speak one language.
I learned my second language quite quickly due to hard work and regular practice, but I get told often I must have a "gift for languages" as other people state they tried learning a language before and can only remember one or two words.
Someone usually chimes in about some guy they know from Europe who speaks 5 languages and then another person will then repeat the claim "yep, he definitely has a gift for languages".
I've heard this so many times and it is quite frustrating and insulting to those people who have gone to the length of learning several languages.
Obviously learning one language as an adult will give you some helpful techniques which could be used when learning a third or fourth language, but is there any science to indicate that certain people have some super talent and can learn languages at a higher level than normal human beings?