ADJ
- first, native
- She grew up in Spain, so her first language is Spanish
- foreign, second
- How many foreign languages does she speak? the teaching of English as a second language
- original
- Most local cinemas show films in the original language, with German subtitles
- source, target (both technical)
- ancient, classical, dead
- Latin is a dead language
- modern
- common, shared
- indigenous, local
- official
- Belgium has two official languages
- national
- Portuguese is the national language of Brazil
- international
- minority
- Some minority languages are dying out
- spoken, written
- She could speak some Chinese, but never studied the written language
- colloquial, everyday, informal
- formal
- flowery, literary, poetic
- racist, sexist
- sign
- Not all deaf people use sign language
- body, non-verbal
- You could tell from his body language that he was very embarrassed
- legal, technical, etc.
- computer, programming
VERB + LANGUAGE
- speak
- understand
- use
- learn, study
- master
- be couched in, be expressed in
- enrich
- idiomatic expressions that enrich the language
LANGUAGE + NOUN
- acquisition, learning
- new methods of language learning
- course, lesson
PREP
- in … ~
- His letter was couched in very formal language
PHRASES
- command/knowledge/mastery of (a) language
- Her command of language is very advanced for a six-year-old
- use of language
- The writer's use of language reflects the personality of each character
ADJ
- bad, crude, foul, obscene, offensive, strong
- using foul language
VERB + LANGUAGE
- use
- mind, watch
- The referee warned the players to mind their language