[viraptor]

> Less than 1 percent of American adults today are proficient in a foreign language that they studied in a U.S. classroom.

Is this really as notable as the author suggests? Are there more people proficient in other subjects learned in the classroom? I don't think more than 1% of people from my classrooms are proficient in maths / chemistry / physics to a "fluent adult language" degree.

[_abattoir]

So you're saying that statistic isn't notable if the entirety of education has less than 1 percent effectiveness... yes, I'd say that was notable.

[viraptor]

It's notable, but not in this context. If we're talking about effectiveness/usefulness of education systems in general, sure, that's an interesting point. If talking specifically about language learning - I don't think so.

Similar: It's notable that I've got 2 legs - as a living creature, due to adaptation, etc. It's not notable in a town of people - they all have 2 legs.