A funny story. A friend of mind, ex-miltary, was telling me that an acquaintance of his spoke English and German, his Italian wife spoke Italian and English. The two of them spoke all three languages with their kids. I commented, "They must be brilliant. What an advantage for them to learn 3 languages simultaneously." My friend repled, "No- they're dumb as stones. They can't converse intelligently in any of the three."