Babies are miraculous linguistic creatures. From an early age, they seamlessly master the language or languages in their early environment. Babies' early language-learning abilities turn out to not just be about language--they are also social in nature, orienting children to cultural in-group members. Infants and young children demonstrate preferences for people who speak in a familiar language or accent, and they selectively learn from those people. In this article, the authors discuss how early social preferences toward language develop, their function for learning about one's culture and community, and how thinking about language may relate to later social biases. They also examine how children's attitudes toward speakers of different languages may be flexible based on children's experiences, including differences in children's own cultural backgrounds and exposure to diversity. Language is a critical component of identity and culture, and children pick up on this right away.