learned <about> hard work

[sitifan]

John was serious and the oldest child in his family. He thought he had the responsibility to help his mother while his father was traveling. _____________________________
1. From his mother, John learned hard work.
2. From his mother, John learned about hard work.
Which of the above sentences is acceptable to native speakers?

 

[jutfrank]

Where did you get these sentences from?

If you wrote this context yourself, tell us more about what you want the final sentence to mean. If you didn't, please tell us who wrote the sentences and why.

 

[sitifan]

Where did you get these sentences from?

If you wrote this context yourself, tell us more about what you want the final sentence to mean. If you didn't, please tell us who wrote the sentences and why.

I didn't write the context myself. The sentences are quoted from an article about John Rockefeller on a test paper designed by a Taiwanese teacher of English. The original text is as follows:
John was serious and the oldest child in his family. He thought he had the responsibility to help his mother while his father was traveling. From his mother, John learned hard work.

However, I found another article about Rockefeller whose text is as follows:
John was a serious boy. Being the oldest son, he took it upon himself to help his mother while his father was traveling. He considered it his responsibility. From his mother, John learned about discipline and hard work.
https://www.ducksters.com/biography/entrepreneurs/john_d_rockefeller.php

I was wondering if "learned about hard work" is better than "learned hard work."

 

[jutfrank]

Okay, well please give us this kind of information in post #1. If you can give us an idea of where your questions come from, we can answer much more usefully. Your question of whether they're both 'acceptable' is really no good. It's not at all a question of acceptability.

If you add the preposition about, you're changing the meaning of the sentence, from what the writer intended, so no it isn't better in any way.

 

[Tdol]

You could say something like learned the value of hard work.