LANGUAGE


Meaning of LANGUAGE in English

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.

Oxford Collocations English Dictionary.      Оксфордский английский словарь словосочетаний .