"What would have become of my father if he hadn't been able to learn English in the public schools?"
As a young child he had gone away to school to learn English.
I used to have one of their people learning English.
At night they went to a community college to learn English.
He learned English in his first few months of military service.
There is no time to learn English in a school.
But he soon learned English, which is now his main language.
During school hours they also have programs for students who are still learning English.
They start to learn English from the age of six.
There is also a test for students learning English as a second language.