mother tongue

名词母语，本国语

And most black children came from poor, ill-educated families where English, the main language of instruction, was not their mother tongue.(而且黑人孩子大都来自文化程度很低的贫困家庭，他们的母语不是教学中所使用的英语。)

We did not even have parents whose mother tongue was English!(我们甚至都没有说英语为母语的父母！)

Hoping to discover what language a child would speak if he heard no mother tongue, he told the nurses to keep silent.(他希望发现一个没有听到母语的孩子会说什么语言，他让护士们保持沉默。)

English has become a truly international language with more speakers of English as a second language than as a first or mother tongue.(英语已经成为真正的国际语言，因为把英语作为第二语言的人数已经超过以英语为第一语言或母语的人数。)

British readers have access to an unprecedented range of news and ideas from Europe in their mother tongue.(英国读者单靠母语就可以接触到欧洲各类新闻和思想，范围之广，史无前例。)

While learning a second language, students should also enhance their awareness of the importance of mastering their mother tongue.(在学习第二语言的同时，学生也应该更加重视掌握母语的重要性。)

English is her mother tongue.(英语是她的母语。)

Maybe this is already her mother tongue.(也许这先前就是她的母语。)

Its disloyal children are ditching their mother tongue for English and French.(它不忠的孩子们将母语弃如敝屣，而开始学说英语和法语。)

Media is a form of language, and we always favor our mother tongue.(媒体是一种语言形式，而我们永远偏爱自己的母语。)

noun

1. one's native language
the language learned by children and passed from one generation to the next

Synonym: maternal languagefirst language

1. 母语;本国语;本族语
Your mother tongue is the language that you learn from your parents when you are a baby.