> It takes people twelve years to learn to read and write at a 12th grade level. Nah. You are mixing up the skill 'writing glyphs on a piece of paper and retri

> It takes people twelve years to learn to read and write at a 12th grade level. Nah. You are mixing up the skill 'writing glyphs on a piece of paper and retrieving that information via optical means' with 'being well-grounded in a wide array of subjects so you can express an idea in a way that is mentally stimulating to a potential reader'. Neither takes 12 years to learn. The first, we teach within a year, at most. The second we do not teach at all, and the best 'writers' often are those who were challenged outside of school, by parents who gave them a rich, intellectually interesting environment, not within it.