I just reworked Languages for my home game and thought that maybe some of you might want to do more with languages than "can't speak" and "speak as if learned in the womb". And maybe PF wants to do more with it, too (either generally or as an optional rule). It's a bit inspired by what Midnight does with skills.
Speak a language: Every rank in linguistics grants you the ability to speak (and read/write, if you’re literate) a language to some extent. The more ranks you put into a language, the more proficient you are in the language
Level 1(pidgin): You know enough of the language make yourself understood, and understand, basic matters. Understanding speakers that talk fast or with a heavy foreign accent are usually beyond your understanding, as are topics topics. Your lack of fluency is obvious to any listener, and you often mispronounce words and use incorrect grammar and spelling.
Level 2 (fluent): You can speak the language fluently and understand even fast talkers and difficult topics. Only difficult topics you’re unfamiliar with, or very heavy accents can be difficult for you. You still speak with a foreign accent unless you concentrate, but usually only native speakers can find fault with your use of the language. You may be able to imitate one or two of the more popular accents
Level 3 (native): You speak the language as if it were a native tongue for you (even if it isn’t). You can discuss any topic, speak without any foreign accent (in case you are not a true native speaker), and it is extremely difficult to tell that you haven’t been speaking in this language since childhood (even if you weren’t). You can usually reproduce several accents of this language, and a couple of those without any difficulty.
Starting languages and proficiency: Automatic languages (those every character of your race and/or culture gets) are automatically learned at native level, while bonus languages (for a high intelligence score) are learned at fluent level. You can improve this with ranks as normal.
Linguistics as a class skill: If linguistics is a class skill for you, one rank directly makes you fluent in the language, and an additional rank a native speaker. Also, bonus languages are spoken at native level instead of fluent.
When you get linguistics after 1st level, all your languages are upgraded by one step, and you can learn new languages for every language that was at level 3 (except for automatic languages)