&#62;<i>To answer your direct questions though, someone who cannot use a first language to any reasonable degree either has a learning disability or has been failed by the education system.</i><p>Or, isn't bothered about learning anything. Without being over manipulative you can't give some one an education unless they are an active participant in that process. Also parenting is a key element.<p>I still consider that the fix for those who have not been taught or have not learnt a first language well is not to burden the [broken] system and the student with attempting to learn a further additional language.<p>Minor side point - I see quite a lot of kids who if they make a noise have a dummy stuffed into their mouths. I'm sure you can recover largely from no language practice for the first few years of life but I can't help thinking that most in that situation don't.