Bad if english not primary language?

[soccerpie]

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I was born here in the US but I grew up speaking farsi (persian) with my family at home, but I also know english as good as farsi because I went to school here in the states. But I was wondering which should I list as my primary language? persian or english? I love my culture and thought I should list persian as my primary, but would it hurt any of my chances applying to any MD schools?

 

[deleted357625]

salam che tori?

and nah it's cool, put english since you know it as good as farsi.

 

[Mithril]

I was born here in the US but I grew up speaking farsi (persian) with my family at home, but I also know english as good as farsi because I went to school here in the states. But I was wondering which should I list as my primary language? persian or english? I love my culture and thought I should list persian as my primary, but would it hurt any of my chances applying to any MD schools?

You mean you know English as well as you know Farsi.

I would just pick the language you use most often. I'm trilingual (English, French, Bengali), but because I only use Bengali at home and English pretty much everywhere else, I put down English as my primary language.

 

[CodeBlu]

Do you think in english or farsi?

What language do you dream in? That's your primary language.

 

[deleted357625]

Yea, I'm sure the only time you speak Farsi is at home or with relatives. You speak English in school and are fluent in it, and you have to speak it everyday in the U.S. your primary language is most likely English not Farsi.

I mean i grew up here and know Farsi as well, but that is not my primary language because i don't use it frequently obviously.

 

[AsianPersuasion]

Do you think in english or farsi?

What language do you dream in? That's your primary language.

You know what soooo weird? When I'm having a dream and the dream involve conversations, I would speak in Khmer and the person whoever I'm speaking with, would respond in English 😕😕

 

[theWUbear]

The dictionary states that primary language is "A first language (also native language, arterial language, or L1), the language a human being learns from birth".

Of note, it does not state that a primary language is that language you speak that you think would give you the best chance at medical school admission

 

[music2doc]

The dictionary states that primary language is "A first language (also native language, arterial language, or L1), the language a human being learns from birth".

Of note, it does not state that a primary language is that language you speak that you think would give you the best chance at medical school admission

hahaha....very nice. The problem, though, comes when someone grew up in a bilingual household. In that case, you can't really determine a "first language." Instead, the primary language would have to be considered to be that in which the individual has a stronger native competency level. For such individuals, I would expect this to typically be whichever is the dominant language in the person's current context (i.e., if living in an English-speaking area, an English-Farsi perfectly bilingual individual will be more likely to process things in English simply b/c it is the language most commonly utilized).

OP, the language you think/dream in most is probably a good way of determining your primary language. I can (and do) think and dream in both Spanish and English; however, my primary language is definitely English. Why? Because I tend to think in it more often. Also, the fact that I live in the States means I use it more often. For you, English is probably primary unless you didn't speak English until much later (e.g., past about 4-5 years old). Assuming you grew up in the States, it is likely you tend to think/speak first in English. For someone who grew up elsewhere, it is likely the other language will be primary.

 

[Flamen04]

TBH, I don't think it really matters if you don't put down english as your primary language (I didn't). They would know you could speak and read english well by looking at your GPA and MCAT score.