Both the people I mentioned were in their late 20s at the time.

For the one that didn't consider herself fluent in either language, I would have never guessed. In talking with her, (we knew each other a couple years before this conversation) I thought she was fluent in English. She certainly didn't seem to struggle with speaking or understanding to me. But she felt that she struggled with both languages.

I once read that children of immigrants tend to have a poorer grasp of both languages because they learn the reading and writing and grammar in school while speaking their native tongue at home but not learning the grammar and such as well.

I mentioned it to my friends who were the children of Mexican immigrants, and they both felt that it was pretty accurate. One said that she didn't feel fluent in English or Spanish. Spanish was her home language, but she couldn't read or write it well and wasn't good at the grammar because she didn't study it at school. She learned English at school but didn't speak it at home and didn't have as much practice at a young age.

My other friend also agreed but did feel fluent in both. She said her parents made her take after school Spanish lessons so she would learn to read and write it as well as the grammar. She also said her parents put her in other extracurriculars that made her practice her English as well. She felt like other 1st gen Americans that didn't have those experiences struggle with both languages.

My elementary school project where we made 3d maps of Colorado using a box lid as a base agrees with you.

I watched Stardust at the exact right time for this. My now husband and I were falling in love and still in the honeymoon phase of our relationship. I could totally relate to the glowing feeling of being in love. I maintain that despite being fantasy that is one of the most accurate portrayals of being in love. It doesn't actually make you glow, but your sure feel like you are.