Definition of 'second language'
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Word Frequency
second language in British English
noun
1.
a language other than the mother tongue that a person or community uses for public communication, esp in trade, higher education, and administration
2.
a non-native language officially recognized and adopted in a multilingual country as a means of public communication
Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers
Word Frequency
second language in American English
noun
1.
2.
a language widely used, esp. in educational and governmental functions in a region where all or most of its speakers are nonnative, as English in India or Nigeria
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by Penguin Random House LLC and HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Examples of 'second language' in a sentence
second language
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In other languages
second language
British English: second language
NOUN /ˈsɛkənd ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
Someone's second language is a language which is not their native language but which they use at work or at school.
She teaches English as a second language.
- American English: second language /ˈsɛkənd ˈlæŋɡwɪdʒ/
- Brazilian Portuguese: segunda língua
- Chinese: 第二语言
- European Spanish: segundo idioma
- French: deuxième langue
- German: Zweitsprache
- Italian: seconda lingua
- Japanese: 第2外国語
- Korean: 제 2언어
- European Portuguese: segunda língua
- Latin American Spanish: segundo idioma
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Definition of second language from the Collins English Dictionary
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