Joined this summer an international organization in Rome, Italy. I was quite surprised by the quality of the English skills in here. Like,... In our African countries, not knowing English/French is a question of whether you want to live a miserable life or no. Like, we have kids who failed their studies for just 45 hours of English practice each year starting grade 6.

I think that's the key difference between countries: some are compelled to be proficient in English because it is a necessity in order to get a descent life. Some sees it as just a need to compete.

I really understand. It might be also difficult for a great civilization like the Italian one to admit that they need to adapt to other civilization, speak English, adopt this language in order to express their ideas ...

Our English is so bad that we make fun of our own ineptitude ourselves.