Is it normal that i don't think i have a first/native language?

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4 Comments

English is the language I use most frequently and it's also the one I feel the most comfortable with, but it's not the first language I learned.
I started learning English when I was about 4 years old, hence I guess it doesn't count as a native language, even though I don't like speaking the language I first acquired at all. In fact, I avoid speaking German whenever I can because it just feels weird and I never identified myself as being 'German' in the first place anyway. It's not like I can't speak German, but I just don't feel that I'm as confident speaking as you should be with your native language, also as I said I don't use it very often anyways since I don't live in Germany.
Do you think it's normal that I don't really have a first language then?

Voting Results
89% Normal
Based on 45 votes (40 yes)
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Comments ( 4 )
  • Shrunk
    11 years ago

    I think it's normal... My father's first language is also german but born& living in the US I'm guessing he is more comfortable with english(he learned it around the same age as you), since he doesn't use german on a regular basis anymore. also I notice a lot of germans and some other europeans seem to prefer using english to their native language

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  • nAt2017
    11 years ago

    Yeah, pretty normal. My mother raised me speaking Japanese and English, among other things. All my favorite childhood TV shows are in Japanese, but I much prefer speaking in English.

    In turn, my grandfather, who had to learn English when he came to America, still can't speak it very well. But he's also lost most of his Japanese. The whole communication thing is not too good in my family :P

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  • boehawk
    11 years ago

    My niece tried to get her grandmother to teach her portuguese but since she hadn't spoke it since she was a young adult when she moved here she had forgot almost all of it.

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  • NotFloydzie
    11 years ago

    Yes, it's normal. It's actually very common for people who started moving to different countries while they were young. Speak whatever language you're most comfortable with.

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