A good friend of mine is actually illiterate in his native language: thanks to the vagaries of postcolonial politics in his home country, he can *only* read and write in English. I was amazed when I learned that.

Um. I know people like that. Or people who can read or write in their mother tongue, but not very well. The other day I was telling roga, when she asked me about the languages I spoke and where I learnt English: I grew up bilingual. Most people from my background do. I also went to a English-medium school (and there's a whole class issue there which I won't go into now), so... Of course, because I come from a so-called 'culture conscious' family, my parents were very careful to ensure that I did not become one of Those People, who claim not to know their mother tongue very well. In our family, you make fun of Those People (Again, not going into the class issues involved here).