[UA] Negative Skills?

[Tim Groth]

Your native language facility is rarely tested.  When you need to do
something specific with the language you use a skill or crap shoot
with a roll of a more general skill (the character's Education one is
the most likely) or attribute (Mind for clarity, Soul for expression).
 I'd personally use a minimum for such rolls—you either get a jewel or
barely passable stuff.

For foreign language skills, remember skill penumbras.  My "Gaijin
Japanese 15%" skill doesn't just let me order what I need at
restaurants and make sure I don't accidently get chicken skin skewers
instead of actual chicken meat.  It also gives me a smattering of
Japanese culture, an ability to use the reference tools available, and
can get me in touch with Japanese teachers and exchange lesson
partners.  (Or rather it would if I were still in Japan).

So, day to day stuff and small talk, no roll.  Sure I have a thick
accent, piss poor vocabulary, and need to stick to the easier
structures, but it gets the job done.  When I need to explain that I
want to close my bank account into American dollars to take advantage
of the fucking insane exchange rate offered by Tomato bank it would
require a Significant check in UA terms.  Now if, hypothetically, I
need to convince the Yakuza bad-ass coming towards me not to murder me
it would be a Major check, and I would probably end up saying
something like "watashi wa ikuru—please don't kill me dude, oh fucking
please".

The thing about second language learners is they often latch onto
strange and interesting structures, so it isn't too unrealistic to
allow them to try anything.  Also, you rarely need to fully understand
something to communicate effectively.  For instance, my wife teaches
ESL and right know she's tutoring fairly high level French air traffic
controllers.  One was asking her about baseball yesterday, and was
quite surprised to learn that the expression "three strikes" comes
from the game.  The student used the expression, understood its
meaning, and so on, but never had it anchored in reality.

I'd probably still go with Chris's idea of a chart for accent, in
terms of noticeable quirks.