How is it possible that roughly 50% of Americans can’t read above a 6th grade level and how are 21% just flat out illiterate?

armchair_progamer@programming.dev to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world – 503 points –

From https://www.reddit.com/r/NoStupidQuestions/comments/14phpbq/how_is_it_possible_that_roughly_50_of_americans/

Question above is pretty blunt but was doing a study for a college course and came across that stat. How is that possible? My high school sucked but I was well equipped even with that sub standard level of education for college. Obviously income is a thing but to think 1 out of 5 American adults is categorized as illiterate is…astounding. Now poor media literacy I get, but not this. Edit: this was from a department of education report from 2022. Just incase people are curious where that comes from. It does also specify as literate in English so maybe not as grim as I thought.

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Same everywhere. I think 53% of people in Quebec are functional illiterate. There is an article today about French students being illiterates too.

The educational system wants this. I start to think it's by design.

As in they’re literate in English but the government decided to stop offering services in English thereby making citizens functionally illiterate?

i'm guessing peobably the opposite? they're literate in french but the national test is in english.

No, nothing to do with language. Functional illiterate means you can read, you know how to read, but you don't really understand the meaning of what you are reading. Maybe Trump is a functional illiterate for instance :)

The same applies in the ROC (Rest of canada) when dealing with their French minority. Latest example is in New-Brunswick where the premier faces an onslaught by eliminating the French as a second language programme.

Alberta done that in the 1920’s without recriminations by closing down French only schools.

Ontario is not better underfunding French services.

@toosoon You must be ill-informed, quite biased and in favour of Québec bashing. The government has English translations available for its minority in “La belle province”. Educate yourself. The information is out there.

http://www.education.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/site_web/documents/publications/DepStatAlpha_eng.pdf

That’s all well and good, until you read about bill 96..

I’m a frog, kiss me. Bill 96 is excellent as tabled . I don’t need to wait. If you’re not happy with it, do like me and GTFO . You are ROC material to light up the culture war. Join them and you will feel more at home. You must be too illiterate to be able to read between the line or fucking blind.

I’m sorry I genuinely could not follow most of that word salad. Care to try again, preferably in English this time?

Speak White, you say. Hmm… … bigot! That is why we will never cross the cultural divide between the two solitudes in canada if on either side we refuse to acknowledge our differences.

Feel free to speak in whatever ethnicity you want so long as type out a full sentence with at least a hint of what your point is trying to be.

The problem with your last comment isn’t slang words or grammar, it was a complete lack of logical flow and endless run-on sentences with no point to be found anywhere.

I bet that the English cucumber in my French salad leaves you speechless. You’re killing me pointlessly with your words.

Are you translating french idioms into english and expecting it to make sense?

No and it wouldn’t make any difference in any language anyhow. Even less in your neck of the woods.

Wait are you actually saying what you’ve typed doesn’t make sense in any language? I’m so confused.

  • [ ] Not so fast. My colloquial digression from the subject of worldwide illiteracy followed your assumption that Québec educational policy was making anglophones illiterates which I do not agree with just so you could further your quite succinct crass political agenda to National governmental affairs in your next comment (Bill 96).
  • [ ] You cannot read between the lines because your biased intercultural approach is monolithic and exclusive.
  • [ ] I am exasperated by your sarcastic bullshit. So fuck off you bloody cunt!
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I'm a frog, kiss me. Bill 96 is excellent as tabled . I don't need to wait. If you're not happy with it, do like me and GTFO. You are ROC material to light up the culture war. Join them and you will feel more at home. You must be too illiterate to be able to read between the line or fucking blind.

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Not everywhere, in Saudi Arabia it's between 3% and 0.6% illiteracy amongst adults.

Functional illiteracy isn't the same thing as illiteracy.

Just checked and apparently worldwide the average is around 15% functional illiteracy...

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