language noun
1 system of communication
adjective
first , native
She grew up in Mexico, so her first ~ is Spanish.
foreign , second
How many foreign ~s does she speak?
the teaching of English as a second ~
original
Most local cinemas show films in the original ~, with German subtitles.
source , target ( both technical )
ancient , classical , dead
Latin is a dead ~.
modern
common , shared
indigenous , local
official
Belgium has two official ~s.
national
Portuguese is the national ~ of Brazil.
dominant
international , universal
minority
Some minority ~s are dying out.
natural
Computers will never be able to understand natural ~.
strange , unknown
manuscripts written in an unknown ~
computer , programming
verb + language
speak
know , understand
use
learn , study
teach
master
language + noun
acquisition , development , learning
new methods of ~ learning
course , lesson
skill
barrier
phrases
command of (a) ~ , knowledge of (a) ~ , mastery of (a) ~
Her command of ~ is very advanced for a six-year-old.
2 way of using language
adjective
spoken , written
She could speak some Chinese, but never studied the written ~.
colloquial , everyday , informal
formal
expressive , flowery , literary , poetic
figurative , symbolic
everyday , plain , simple
His strength is that he addresses his readers in plain ~.
vague
racist , sexist
sign
Not all deaf people use sign ~.
body
You could tell from his body ~ that he was very embarrassed.
legal , technical
biblical
harsh
She reserved her harshest ~ for those she believed had betrayed her.
bad , colourful/colorful , crude , foul , obscene , offensive , strong , vulgar
people using foul ~
verb + language
use
be couched in , be expressed in
mind , watch
The referee told the players to mind their ~.
preposition
in … ~
His letter was couched in very formal ~.
phrases
use of ~
The writer's use of ~ reflects the personality of each character.
Languages
excellent … , fluent … , good … , perfect …
He speaks fluent Japanese.
bad … , broken … , poor …
I got by with broken Chinese and sign language.
colloquial … , idiomatic … , non - standard … , pidgin … , standard …
The inhabitants speak a kind of pidgin Spanish.
spoken … , written …
My spoken Polish is better than my written Polish.
business …
She is doing a course in business English.
original …
The fable is translated from the original French.
know … , read … , speak … , understand … , use …
I am more comfortable using Spanish, if you don't mind.
be fluent in …
She was fluent in German, Urdu and Swahili.
do … ( esp. BrE ) , learn … , study …
I did German at school but I've forgotten most of it.
I've been learning Arabic for four years.
improve … , practise/practice …
I spent a month in Rome to improve my Italian.
master …
I never really mastered Latin.
translate sth into …
He has translated her latest book into Korean.
… class , … course , … lesson
I'm late for my Russian class.
… interpreter
the need for Gujarati interpreters
… speaker , a speaker of …
the number of Portuguese speakers in the world
a command of … , a knowledge of …
He has a poor command of English.
in …
What is ‘apple’ in French?
He addressed me in his best Portuguese.
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