Many people who attended the (mandatory) English classes in middle and high school prior to the Internet seem to have come out of the educational system without really being comfortable with (or competent at) the language, at least here in Germany. (In my experience, this also applies to American students who have taken several years worth of German classes.) Pre-university "stock education" can be shockingly inefficient when it comes to languages, it seems.
The reason, I believe, was (partly still is) the lack of "application", need, and exposure. Until ten or fifteen years ago, it required actual effort to get undubbed movies, and even importing games was a hassle or cost extra. The average person just didn't need to know English and there wasn't much incentive to learn and actively use it.
The Internet, above all, changed the situation. Still, even know, many Germans are not comfortable speaking English and still much prefer localized media content (books, movies, games). And actually, I think that's fine. Language is important to cultural identity, though that is something I seem to lack.
(I consider myself European first, German second.)