<p>I came to the US when i was 8th grade, should i mention that i didn't speak english before i came to the US? is that going to make me look bad?
is that and advantage or disadvantage?</p>
<p>thanks</p>
<p>I'd think that'd be a good thing if you can write about how much you've improved. you're supposed to include hardships and how you overcame them, right? i think that was a college essay tip. I mean with that, you could write about a variety of things, like a) I really wanted to learn English but I did not get the opportunity to in my home country, so when I arrived I tried my hardest to catch up. It was hard being surrounded by English speakers but having only English to speak in actually helped my progress, so I was glad... [this shows you can find the positive in certain situations]
b) I get As in English class now! I've improved a lot, people have no trouble understanding me, they can't even tell I'm not a native!
c) and you can tie in learning English to everything else (experiences) you've learned and grown from.<br>
And okay those examples were super corny but you get the picture. Adding it depends on what theme you're writing about, but if they relate in a good way, include it.</p>