How do you get to be illiterate?

Answer

You don't "get to be" illiterate, we all start that way. I assume you mean "unable to read or write" for illiterate. Hopefully one learns to both read and write, and also learns to love it. That person gets to be "literate".

Another view:

Often, a child will miss schooling at a critical period of his/her development. If the policy of the school is to promote to the next level regardless of attainment and the teachers are not monitoring progess, the child slips through the cracks. With time, the child will actively hide the lack of prowess through embarrassment and then there is little chance that they will ever read fluently unless they seek one-on-one help.

Another view:

If one person missed his school time or did not devote himself into school when he was child, we can't judge that he is illiterate. Because he is living in the society, that is to say he is not isolated, he could get contact with people, events and he had to deal with problems by himself. It is a course of learning. In this kind of course, he could obtain the skills to make a living and to communicate with people and how to go well with the society. So we can not say he is illiterate. He just can not read and write.

Another view:

I find the last answer bizarre. If a person cannot read, then he/she is illiterate. Let us 'call a spade a spade'.