I speak 3 languages. English, Japanese, and Yoruba. People often ask me what language I consider my first language to be. To be honest, I cannot say whether it is English or Japanese. Because I was born and schooled in Japan, I learned Japanese at school. However, because my parents are Nigerian, at home, I was taught English simultaneously. So I would say both English and Japanese are my first languages.
I learned Japanese mostly through school, but learning English was a different journey for me. While I learned Japanese at school, my parents taught me English at home. I would watch lots of Disney movies and English songs to strengthen my listening skills, read books and practice writing. There was even an “only English” rule in my house at some point to help us practice speaking English.
These things helped me to improve my English learning faster, enabling me to pass the STEP Level 1 English test which is a Japanese, English language proficiency test.