A discussion of techniques for assisting native English-speaking students in understanding the concept of gender in such languages as French, German, Italian, and Spanish considers three issues: (1) What is gender? (2) What is a good way to learn the gender of nouns? and (3) How did the concept of gender develop and how can the concept help one to deal with gender more effectively? It is noted that gender in languages refers less to sex than to categories or species, and in English the neuter category predominates while in Romance languages it does not exist. Students are entreated to avoid ascribing sex-associated characteristics to nouns of either gender, but to rely on grammatical rules governing gender. However, a theory of the development of the gender concept that ties gender to the animistic personification of things and ideas is proposed. It is suggested that in learning Romance languages, students be encouraged to relate gender to the absence or presence of certain letters at the end of the noun, with the understanding that some inconsistencies exist even in this system. (MSE)