The phrase "master a language" is correct and can be used in written English.
You could use the phrase to describe the action of learning a language, such as in the sentence "She is working hard to master a language."
Two individuals of different species have to master a language -- new to each -- of nudges, pulls and shifts of weight.
Granted, one year may not be sufficient to master a language, but a child will have the rest of his life to do that.
And of course greater investment in foreign-language teaching would have other dynamic effects: more and better teachers and materials, plus a cultural premium on multilingualism, means more people will actually master a language, rather than wasting several years never getting past la plume de ma tante, as happens in Britain and America.To be sure, everything has an opportunity cost.
The second sentence presupposes that at present or at some recent time it is or was essential to master a language in order to do business in Asia, to treat patients in Africa, or to resolve the situation in the Middle East.
I look at it too, waiting for my son to tap a "hello". But it has only been six months since he's had it, half a year to master a language, and he's watching it too, waiting for the words to telepathically appear.
"First you have to master a language as if it were your own, think in that language, talk in it, [then] fulfil the task set in the interests of your motherland over many years, suffering daily dangers for you and your loved ones, who don't even know who you are or for whom you work".
"Mastering" a language means knowing everything there is to know about it as well as understanding, speaking and writing it to perfection.
"I studied with some of the best linguists in the world, but how could a middle-school autodidact have mastered a language that died fifty years ago?
While there is no gainsaying the insights that come from mastering a language, it will over time become less essential in doing business in Asia, treating patients in Africa or helping resolve conflicts in the Middle East.
The addictive thrill of mastering a language leads me to suspect I won't be leaving just yet and I'm confident I now occupy a more privileged position for procuring a French job.
In using language, he says next in the lectures, in understanding each other and in mastering a language initially we do not start with a small set of words or a single word, but rather from specific occasions and activities.
