Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

second language

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.99 in modern English

Syllables: sec-ond lan-guage
IPA

19

Scrabble Score

14

Letters

3

Syllables

10

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A language that is spoken by someone but is not their mother tongue.

Example Sentences

"My second languages are Italian and German."
"Vocabulary is a vital component of educational success in both first and second language contexts."
"Malay is the lingua franca of several Southeast Asia countries and has been simplified by its use as a second language by non-native speakers. For example, the Malay plural is formed by repeating a word twice – buku means book and buku-buku means books."

Inflected Forms

second languages (plural)

Phrases

second-language acquisition first language foreign language

Frequently Paired Words

first language foreign language

Synonyms

l2

Questions

What does second language mean?: A language that is spoken by someone but is not their mother tongue.

How to pronounce second language

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “second language”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “second language”.
Repeat and practice — Say “second language” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.