This paper examines language discourse in transnational culture and reviews theories on reflexive modernity (Beck et al. 2003) for assay. It introduces symbolic meanings of language in transnational Communities of Practice shaped by salsa dance, where, depending on dance styles and on local, national and transnational discursive configurations, language ideologies diverge, to which data from ethnographic observation and interviews offer insight. Both first modern (essentialised) categories and second modern (non-naturalised) constructions of categories are displayed to be employed within these communities. The paper explores the simultaneous presence of various symbolic functions of languages, linked to first and second modern constructions of categories. As debated in the final section, the divers constructions of language and belonging point out that reproducing social hierarchies in transnational contexts can be related to the skill to negotiate multilingual identities as non-essentialist, which is, however, not possible for everyone – and potentially includes neo-liberal discourse. English being a pivotal means in constructing cosmopolitan positions, the paper ends with a reflection on the role of English in the transnational sphere, where both first and second modern ideologies are co-present and interlinked, showing the trouble of taking evaluative stances on language ideology in a globally interlinked world.