Okay, so I’m a little confused about this part… most schools require the TOEFL test if English is not your first language, but I’m worried about whether I should put two languages as my first languages.
I was born in the Philippines and I lived there until I was six years old, but I only went to school there for one year. That one year of schooling was taught in English, also. And I watched movies, read books, and listened to music, etc. in English the whole time I lived in the Philippines. I could speak English if I wanted to. When I came to the US and started kindergarten, I don’t remember struggling to learn it at all. I went to ESL for a little bit but I tested out of it before kindergarten even ended, and I was even in the higher reading level in my class and I managed to skip 1st grade and go straight to 2nd. I still speak Tagalog fluently now, but since I’ve lived in the US for so long, my English is better and rather than having an accent when I speak in English, I have an accent when I speak Tagalog.
I’ve been told that if you can’t remember picking up a language since you were so young, it could be considered a first language? The main reason I’m asking this is because I think it would be a waste of time and money (I would not have expected the TOEFL to be that much more expensive than the SAT, honestly) to have to take it. I’m clearly proficient in English, my entire education (even that little bit in the Philippines!) has been in English and it’s also one of my best subjects in school… so could I also list it as a first language on the Common App? Does it really matter that much?