A Conversation for Frank Laubach: Teaching the World to Read
How much has illiteracy gone down since 1927?
paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant Started conversation Apr 17, 2018
It's an inspiring story, no doubt about that. I can't get a sense of closure, though, because the 3-in-5 illiteracy statistic at the beginning was not updated at the end. Are we getting close to universal literacy now?
Another question: Was Frank Laubach a linguistic genius? It sounds as though he had great facility in a number of different languages....
How much has illiteracy gone down since 1927?
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Apr 17, 2018
If you want to know how much progress has been made in world literacy, you could go to the Laubach site. Or you could try the CIA Factbook:
http://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2103.html
It would appear that progress has been mad, though universal literacy is still not a reality.
Although Laubach didn't speak all of those languages, he came up with a good method for teaching them - and he networked with local experts for the specifics. 
I'd say he was pretty clever at what he did.
How much has illiteracy gone down since 1927?
paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant Posted Apr 17, 2018
China: 96%
India: 71%
Considering how much of the world's population lives in these two countries, literacy rates like that bode well.
How much has illiteracy gone down since 1927?
Dmitri Gheorgheni, Post Editor Posted Apr 17, 2018
Yeah, it does. I think Frank Laubach would be pleased.
How much has illiteracy gone down since 1927?
paulh, vaccinated against the Omigod Variant Posted Apr 18, 2018
But greater literacy has brought increased numbers of Internet trolls and fake-news fans. 
You can teach Jar Jar Binks how to speak and read and write, but getting him to really think will be much harder.
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How much has illiteracy gone down since 1927?
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