<p>I'm applying to stanford undergraduate and Im a US citizen. I was born in Serbia and obviously Serbian is the first language I learned. Afterwards I moved to the US and became a citizen and all that stuff. Now I've moved back to serbia recently but I speak english far more fluently, and write better as well.</p>
<p>Is my "First Language" English (the one I speak and write in better) or Serbian (the one I first learned)?</p>
<p>I'm sure this will be useful to others as well...</p>
<p>silenced, I'm in the same situation. I'm a U.S./Korean citizen (dual) whose first language was technically Korean, but whose English (both writing and speaking) is much better.</p>
<p>I put down English. You are not an "ESL" student in that English is not your primary language. English IS your primary language. That's how I took to mean "first language."</p>
<p>I attend an international school where less than 5% speak only one language. Most people put down their "primary" tongue, even if it's changed throughout their lives.</p>
<p>Oh but I also put down "Korean and English" for what language is spoken at home. My parents speak Korean to me (their first language) and I respond in English. We've been doing this since I was 7 or something like that and it's completely natural for us... I understand almost 100% of Korean even though I'm not very fluent (isn't that weird?) and it's the same situation for them with English.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>its your first language as in the first one you learned.</p></li>
<li><p>2 it sounds cooler to say you know english as a second language and another as a first language</p></li>
<li><p>if you have to take the toefl, you can dominate it. then you will have another great looking test score to put on your apps.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If there is space, yoou could write: bilingual --Serbian-English. But writing Serbian would make your verbal SAT mark look more impressive and, if it is high enough, might mean you don't need to take TOEFL.</p>
<p>m_c It is nice to know that I am not in the only family that does that. In my house my parents speak twi and I respond in English. For the language question when they ask what language I learned to speak first, I say both. When I ask which language I know best I say English.</p>
<p>My parents speak Gujurati and I respond in English..its funny because I can't speak Gujurati much at all but I understand everything they tell me almost to a point that I don't even realize its Gujurati and not english. Its funny when they mix-match english/gujurati lol</p>
<p>parikhs...same situation! I love Gujarati! Khem Chai (or is that cho?)? I always get the formal and informal stuff confused. I talk to my mom in Gujarati, but at one point, I did go through a phase where I only spoke to her in English. This way, though, I won't lose my native tongue. OMG...I mix up Gujarati and English at school all the time; I mostly have white friends, and they're so confused cause they have no idea what I say when I do confuse them: What's the urth in that? Anyways, I put Gujarati on my apps, but I didn't take the TOEFL; my ACT in English and Reading are high enough to compensate for that. Also, it helps when colleges look for diversity and knowledge...knowing another language is great for being a doctor! Also, I can almost completely understand and communicate in Hindi to a certain extent...thanks to the continuously running ZeeTV and TVAsia...not to mention SET...know what I'm talking about? Jai Shree Krishna!</p>
<p>I recommend you put both English/Serbian, so they wouldn't confuse that you are more fluent in Serbian.
That what I put on my-even though I'm not a US citizen.</p>
<p>k i have a friend whose also in this situation, she learned arabic first and didnt move to the US till she was 1 or 2 then became a US citizen in 8th grade . . . . and since she grew up here at a young age, the arabic was forgotten and english much better . . at first she had speech problems and what not, because all she could talk was arabic as a young kid . . however, she also kept up her arabic throughout her elementary years, now she's in high school and english is still better than arabic, so what should she put as first?</p>
<p>That's a tough one, blue_spectra. I'm assuming she's completely fluent with English because she moved to the US at age 1/2. I'd put down English... but as you can see above, many people would say to put down Arabic.</p>
<p>abena301, parikhs, anonymous99.... I'm glad to know my family isn't that unusual!! :) It's so natural for me and my family that we don't notice it... we only realize we do it when people who understand ONLY English or only Korean are with us and then they start to look at us funny. =p</p>
<p>My 9th grade English teacher was the most amazing teacher I've ever had. It's ironic that she's such an inspiring English teacher (and a wonderful poet) because she failed Kindergarten! She's Caucasian, but was born and raised in Korea her entire life. Until she entered an int'l school at five years of age, all of her friends were Korean kids. When she entered Kindergarten, she spoke better Korean than English, and at the end of the year the teacher held her back a year because she couldn't speak English properly! Isn't that hilarious? Even though she was American (blonde hair, blue eyes, the works), she spoke more Korean than English until she was five. Of course, her primary language is now English, lol.</p>
<p>I've got a 750 on the SAT Verbal (didnt do new SAT) and 730 on Literature + I went to a HS in the US for 9th grade, and 5th thorough 8th elelmatary as well.</p>
<p>So I obviously know english well.</p>
<p>I can't put down both on Stanford's Online applicaiton. Now what?</p>
<p>I'm leaning towards putting down English, since I speak iand write better in it. I don't think its "impressive" that I know Serbian, thats obvious from the rest of my app. I think it's far more important to show that I speak english at the college level at least.</p>
<p>It doesn't matter which one you know better. They are essentially asking for your mother tongue, which would be Serbian. You may speak English better but Serbian would still be your first language.</p>
<p>Many schools will require you to take TOEFL if you don't list English as your first language regardless of scores and how long you've been here. They really won't care if you list your other language second, but you really don't wanna waste time to take another standardized test!</p>
<p>That's a good point stargirl. I think I'll tell her to put English, so she doesn't waste her time with another possible test, and she'll probably demonstrate her arabic speaking skills with the rest of her app (e.g. volunteering in other countries as in conversing with those in need in arabic, etc)
Or she can take ln17's suggestion and put English/Arabic so there's no confusion
As long as English is on the line for first learned, because she was pretty young when she came to the US, and I think she might really ahve to take the toefl if only arabic is on the line</p>
<p>scarletleavy, I'm not sure if you're right about what "first language means". What you're talking about is usually called "native language". But if thats what you think first language is equvalent to then ok...</p>
<p>Anyone else? I'm sending my Form 1 to stanford today and I need to make a decision now...</p>