Collocations for language - noun

first, native
She grew up in Mexico, 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.

dominant
international, universal
minority
Some minority languages are dying out.

natural
Computers will never be able to understand natural language.

strange, unknown
manuscripts written in an unknown language

computer, programming

speak
know, understand
use
learn, study
teach
master

acquisition, development, learning
new methods of language learning

course, lesson
skill
barrier

command of (a) language, knowledge of (a) language, mastery of (a) language
Her command of language is very advanced for a six-year-old.

spoken, written
She could speak some Chinese, but never studied the written language.

colloquial, everyday, informal
formal
expressive, flowery, literary, poetic
figurative, symbolic
everyday, plain, simple
His strength is that he addresses his readers in plain language.

vague
racist, sexist
sign
Not all deaf people use sign language.

body
You could tell from his body language that he was very embarrassed.

legal, technical
biblical
harsh
She reserved her harshest language for those she believed had betrayed her.

bad, colourful/colorful, crude, foul, obscene, offensive, strong, vulgar
people using foul language

use
be couched in, be expressed in
mind, watch
The referee told the players to mind their language.

in … language
His letter was couched in very formal language.

use of language
The writer's use of language reflects the personality of each character.