<p>Does that mean the first language I learned or the best language I know? I came to the USA as a 7 year old from China so Chinese is the first language I learned. After 9 years, my Chinese is downright horrible and my English is probably better than most native American speaker's English.</p>
<p>Just put down Chinese because it was literally your first and then explain it in the Additional Information section just like you did here.</p>
<p>Oops, I guess I messed up for UChicago EA then. I put Chinese but didn't tell them anything. Will it affect my chance even though my ACT english/reading were 33s and I got A's in all but one of my English courses (2 AP and 2 Honors)?</p>
<p>First language generally means the language that you consider your primary language, the one you use best, not the first one you learned. The thing to explain elsewhere is your knowledge of Chinese.</p>
<p>I’m bumping this cause a friend has the same question. Does “first language” mean:
a. the first language she learned to speak;
b. the first language she learned to read/write; or
c. her strongest language at this point in time?</p>
<p>Her answer would be different for each of the three.</p>
<p>Thanks for any insights!</p>
<p>Yeah, as an immigrant I have the same problem. I’m planning on putting down English as first language and then the other language for ‘language spoken at home’, because that’s really true. I’ve always taken “first language” to mean “language with which you’re most comfortable”.</p>
<p>Your first language is the one you used first, regardless of whether you speak a word of it now.</p>
<p>Thanks commonappguy!</p>