Language

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Types

There are several classifications. They are not mutually exclusive.

• Natural Language
• Native Language / Mother Tongue
• Foreign Language
• Spoken Language (e.g. Myanmar Sagar)
• Written Language (e.g. Myanmar Sar)
• Ideal / Universal Language (e.g. Esperanto)
• Machine Language
• Programming Language
• Compiled Language
• Interpreted Language
• Assembly Language / Symbolic / Macro
• Scientific & Technical Language
• Business Language
• Specialty Language (e.g English as a Specialty Language)
• Domain Language
• Meta Language (to describe a language)
• Sign Language
• Body Language
• Dead Language

Major Languages

• Chinese
• English
• Spanish
• Arabic

Dialects

Some languages have dialects.

• English (UK, USA, Australia …)
• French (France, Canada …)
• Spanish (Spain, Latin America …)

English

• English is not our native language.
• For studying abroad, we had to take TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) to prove that we had a reasonably good command of English.
  TOEFL covers (a) Reading Comprehension (b) Listening Comprehension (c) Essay
• Several Community Centers in the USA offer ESL (English as a Second Language).
• Saya Des Rodgers taught English at RIT. He did further studies in the UK. He taught “English as a Specialty Language” (aka ESL in Canada.)