I don't need to ask. For me, English is a second language learned well after childhood. I also don't need to ask because I can see my mother speaking what she thinks is English to another just met person with similar level of skill (and on some occasion actually speaking Italian). The conversation is painfully incomprehensible to me, yet they manage to negotiate some sort of shared meaning. That's a low barrier to me. One could claim that it is not language they use, but pidgin. In my eyes it is not a real argument in the context of low/high barrier of entry discussion.
Regards,
Alex. P.s. We are now back online with the conversation.