Langauge spoken at home? Really strange situation...

Applying to College
1

<p>So basically..
Because of the way we grew up, because my parents aren't home very often, and because we were raised in a very white rural area</p>

<p>I'm really confused about what language is spoken here at my home.</p>

<p>The application asks: the predominant language spoken at home.</p>

<p>I don't know which one to pick: English or Chinese.</p>

<p>My brother and I are fluent in English and shaky with Chinese. We speak to eachother in English.</p>

<p>My parents are shaky with English and fluent in Chinese. Mom speaks to me in a mixture of English and Chinese and she speaks with dad completely in Chinese. Dad speaks to all of us completely in Chinese.</p>

<p>I sometimes reply with Chinese --- but most of the time in English.</p>

<p>Which one do I put?</p>

2

<p>It really doesn't matter. Putting Chinese is not gonna help you because Asians are over-represented minorities. Unless an applicant speaks Serbo-Croatian or Urdu or Swahili at home, I don't think putting X language versus putting English will make a difference.</p>

3

<p>Well, there's no choice for 'English' as the language spoken at home.</p>

<p>At least there isn't on the commonapp.</p>

4

<p>For the BC supplement.</p>

5

<p>Also, while we're at it with the trivial details... if my school year starts on the 29th of August, and I just said that we started in the month of September, is that OK?</p>

<p>And the AP History Exam --- that was in May of 2007, right?</p>

6

<p>I would say that you can legitimately put Chinese, since that is the language your parents primarily speak.</p>

7

<p>I would put Chinese. Your scenario is just like mine except I'm pretty fluent w/my parents. The bit about 08/29: you're right -- it is trivial.</p>

<p>Good luck to you.</p>

8

<p>thats how it is with me at home, except with Spanish instead of Chinese...</p>

9

<p>Ask yourself why they are asking this. They really want to know about fluency and the environments you grew up in. I think if you really do not speak the language that well, and you usually speak english to your parents and sybs, then you should select english. Mention it in the additional info box, if you wish.</p>

10

<p>Put Chinese. It might help them interpret your SAT scores, particular your SAT CR/WR.</p>

11

<p>Eventhough you and your brother speak English fluently but you are a disadvantage because your parents don't Most English speaking parents can help them with English, help them with reading, dinner discussion, etc.. Even if your parents speak English, they would miss the subtleness of the English language if they are not native.</p>

12

<p>I'm in the exact same situation with Russian. Everybody in my family speaks Russian to one another but I tend to reply in English. I wrote down Russian for the application however, after all they ask the predominant language spoken at home, not the language that I personally speak the most.</p>