Allow me to correct a couple of things:
1) I tried to move that thread over the Men are from Mars thread, but somehow it got put in the Clown Bin (poetic justice? Perhaps, considering its content) But no matter, it is now in the Men are from Mars section. For that mixup, I do apologize.
2) I do not say they are semi-retards. I say that they are barely educated. they cannot read and they cannot write. During more than three decades ( yes decades) we used to pass out slips that asked a few questions and asked for some information, like Name, address, phone number, home address if you were boarding in Santiago, etc.
Some of those slips were priceless...really. I used to make book with the kids that first day. I said I would give the pot $5 for every perfectly written slip, if they would, as a class, pay me 50? for each mistake, either grammatical or written....
Some days they ended up owing the pot over $150!! None of which was ever collected but did serve to wake them up.
Our university is now embarked on a program, internally, that is called "university literacy", which is to say, we are attempting to teach the kids how to really read and understand what they are reading, not just the words, but the real meaning, the meaning between the lines and behind the words...So far we think we may be making progress...I do not know, it is too early to tell...
How important is this? Well most kids that fail physics and calculus fail because they can't read the problems right. there are a gazillion other examples at the university level...
I, too, know kids that are bi-lingual, but speak both poorly and write both horribly.
Take care and be well....
HB