[KyleGoetz]

Well, it's been a few months since my last question! I recently was able to visit a Japanese bookstore near Chicago and bought an essay book by Murakami! I'm now reading through a short essay called "CAN YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?" and translating it to English.

Now I'm stuck at this sentence:

Originally Posted by Murakami

ところが世の中の多くの人は外国語会話というのを後天 的に身につけることのできる純粋な技術として捉えて考 えているように見える。

I understand the pieces separately, but I'm having difficulty fitting them together into a cogent sentence.

ところが
However,

世の中の多くの人は〜ように見える。
It seems as though, for many people in society, ~

外国語会話というのを後天的に身につけることのできる 純粋な技術として
as a genuine skill of being able to acquire foreign language conversation [ability after birth/a posteriori]

捉えて
perceive/grasp

考えている。
consider/think about

But I can't figure out how to incorporate the 捉えて考えている into the rest of my translation to fit it together.

Help?

Thanks!