This course introduces the basic properties of natural language and how they are related to other aspects of human cognition. In order to provide a broad understanding of human languages, this course covers major subfields in Linguistics, including phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics, language acquisition, psycholinguistics, neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, computational linguistics and applied linguistics. Upon completion of the course, students would be able to identify and analyse the human language in general, which is the essential defining characteristic of human beings. Students would also be able to describe and theorize how language bears on practical aspects of life such as language technology and language pedagogy.