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.
◆◆◆
NOTE: 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.