diff --git a/src/lib/heuristics/extract/skills.test.ts b/src/lib/heuristics/extract/skills.test.ts
index 47bab79b..a706ed5d 100644
--- a/src/lib/heuristics/extract/skills.test.ts
+++ b/src/lib/heuristics/extract/skills.test.ts
@@ -835,6 +835,39 @@ describe("extractSkills — category capture (#473)", () => {
     ]);
   });
 
+  it("drops language proficiency rows without dropping language lists", () => {
+    const section = skillsLines([
+      [...BULLET_RUNS, { x: 74, str: "Languages: Python, Go, TypeScript", w: 180 }],
+      [...BULLET_RUNS, { x: 74, str: "Language: Fluent in Spanish", w: 160 }],
+      [...BULLET_RUNS, { x: 74, str: "Languages: Spanish, French, Mandarin", w: 180 }],
+      [
+        ...BULLET_RUNS,
+        { x: 74, str: "Certifications: Certified in AWS Solutions Architecture", w: 220 },
+      ],
+    ]);
+    const { value, categories } = extractSkills(section);
+
+    expect(value).toEqual([
+      "Python",
+      "Go",
+      "TypeScript",
+      "Spanish",
+      "French",
+      "Mandarin",
+      "Certified in AWS Solutions Architecture",
+    ]);
+    expect(categories).toEqual([
+      { label: "Languages", skills: ["Python", "Go", "TypeScript"] },
+      { label: "Languages", skills: ["Spanish", "French", "Mandarin"] },
+      { label: "Certifications", skills: ["Certified in AWS Solutions Architecture"] },
+    ]);
+    expect(value).not.toContain("Fluent in Spanish");
+    expect(categories).not.toContainEqual({
+      label: "Language",
+      skills: ["Fluent in Spanish"],
+    });
+  });
+
   it("INVARIANT 1: `skills` deep-equals `categories.flatMap((c) => c.skills)`", () => {
     // A wrapped Frontend list whose continuation flushed as its own bare cell
     // ("… HTML5," ⏎ "CSS3, JavaScript") must fold back into Frontend, not become
diff --git a/src/lib/heuristics/extract/skills.ts b/src/lib/heuristics/extract/skills.ts
index 1c719a41..7e016768 100644
--- a/src/lib/heuristics/extract/skills.ts
+++ b/src/lib/heuristics/extract/skills.ts
@@ -304,6 +304,25 @@ const SUBLABEL_PREFIX_RE = new RegExp(`^(${SUBLABEL_BODY}):\\s*`);
  *  tore off its body. See the rejoin in `splitColumnCells`. */
 const BARE_SUBLABEL_RE = new RegExp(`^${SUBLABEL_BODY}:$`);
 
+/** A Skills sub-label that MAY head a spoken-language row. Deliberately NOT
+ * added to NON_SKILL_SUBLABEL_RE: on most engineering résumés `Languages:`
+ * heads the programming-language row, so the label is ambiguous and the body
+ * must decide whether this is a proficiency statement. */
+const LANGUAGE_LABEL_RE = /^languages?$/i;
+
+/** A spoken-language proficiency predication, distinguished from a delimited
+ * programming-language list by its proficiency wording rather than by the
+ * label. */
+const LANGUAGE_PROFICIENCY_BODY_RE =
+  /\b(fluent|native|bilingual|conversational|proficient|intermediate|beginner|basic|working\s+proficiency|mother\s+tongue)\b/i;
+
+function isLanguageProficiencyCell(cell: string): boolean {
+  const debulleted = stripBullet(cell);
+  const match = debulleted.match(SUBLABEL_PREFIX_RE);
+  if (!match || !LANGUAGE_LABEL_RE.test(match[1])) return false;
+  return LANGUAGE_PROFICIENCY_BODY_RE.test(debulleted.slice(match[0].length));
+}
+
 /**
  * Tokenizes a single column cell into valid skill tokens and adds them to
  * `out`. Drops the cell entirely when it looks like a contact/profile link —
@@ -317,7 +336,11 @@ function tokenizeCell(cell: string, out: Set<string>): void {
   // leading `Label:` prefix and drop the whole cell when it names a
   // hobbies/interests list — before the label is stripped and the items split.
   const labelMatch = debulleted.match(SUBLABEL_PREFIX_RE);
-  if (labelMatch && NON_SKILL_SUBLABEL_RE.test(labelMatch[1])) return;
+  if (
+    labelMatch &&
+    (NON_SKILL_SUBLABEL_RE.test(labelMatch[1]) || isLanguageProficiencyCell(debulleted))
+  )
+    return;
   const clean = debulleted.replace(SUBLABEL_PREFIX_RE, "");
   // A whole cell that is a profile link ("github.com/janesmith") must be
   // dropped before splitting — a path slash would otherwise leave the path
@@ -616,7 +639,12 @@ function upcomingContinuationTexts(lineCells: string[][], from: number): string[
  */
 function matchCellLabel(cell: string): string | undefined {
   const m = stripBullet(cell).match(SUBLABEL_PREFIX_RE);
-  if (!m || NON_SKILL_SUBLABEL_RE.test(m[1])) return undefined;
+  if (
+    !m ||
+    NON_SKILL_SUBLABEL_RE.test(m[1]) ||
+    isLanguageProficiencyCell(cell)
+  )
+    return undefined;
   return m[1].trim();
 }
 
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/pdfs/google-docs/google-docs-skia-proxy-role-first-experience.expected.json b/tests/fixtures/pdfs/google-docs/google-docs-skia-proxy-role-first-experience.expected.json
index 62e33e1a..1a9b07d0 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/pdfs/google-docs/google-docs-skia-proxy-role-first-experience.expected.json
+++ b/tests/fixtures/pdfs/google-docs/google-docs-skia-proxy-role-first-experience.expected.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
       "phoneIsValid",
       "skills"
     ],
-    "skillsCount": 12,
+    "skillsCount": 11,
     "experienceCount": 2,
     "educationCount": 1,
     "projectsCount": 0,
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@
     "sectionSource": "regex",
     "pageCount": 1,
     "rawCharCount": 1428,
-    "extractedCharCount": 1147,
+    "extractedCharCount": 1130,
     "sections": [
       {
         "name": "profile",
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@
       "hasSummary": false,
       "experienceCount": 2,
       "educationCount": 1,
-      "skillsCount": 12
+      "skillsCount": 11
     },
     "linkAnnotationCount": 0,
     "disagreements": []
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/pdfs/google-docs/google-docs-skia-proxy-role-first-experience.truth.json b/tests/fixtures/pdfs/google-docs/google-docs-skia-proxy-role-first-experience.truth.json
index 163c6651..92c537b7 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/pdfs/google-docs/google-docs-skia-proxy-role-first-experience.truth.json
+++ b/tests/fixtures/pdfs/google-docs/google-docs-skia-proxy-role-first-experience.truth.json
@@ -42,11 +42,6 @@
       "issue": null,
       "status": "unfiled",
       "note": "Role 2's employer line reads “Multicultural Engineering Program – State Polytechnic University”; `company` comes back as just the university — the program half is not lost, the parser puts it on `team`, but `experience.company` scores the `company` field alone. The identical shape is measured on unknown/single-column-title-below-anchor. Possibly a defensible org/team split rather than a defect — recorded rather than assumed, because ground truth's job is to state what the page says and let a human adjudicate."
-    },
-    "skills": {
-      "issue": 833,
-      "status": "open",
-      "note": "“Fluent in Spanish” is admitted as a skill from the “Language:” row; the Programming Languages row is now correct after #832."
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/tests/fixtures/pdfs/word/openresume-laverne-word-quartz.expected.json b/tests/fixtures/pdfs/word/openresume-laverne-word-quartz.expected.json
index 08bfa09c..8f262696 100644
--- a/tests/fixtures/pdfs/word/openresume-laverne-word-quartz.expected.json
+++ b/tests/fixtures/pdfs/word/openresume-laverne-word-quartz.expected.json
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
       "skills",
       "summary"
     ],
-    "skillsCount": 8,
+    "skillsCount": 7,
     "experienceCount": 3,
     "educationCount": 1,
     "projectsCount": 0,
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@
     "sectionSource": "regex",
     "pageCount": 1,
     "rawCharCount": 1336,
-    "extractedCharCount": 856,
+    "extractedCharCount": 839,
     "sections": [
       {
         "name": "profile",
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@
       "hasSummary": true,
       "experienceCount": 3,
       "educationCount": 1,
-      "skillsCount": 8
+      "skillsCount": 7
     },
     "linkAnnotationCount": 0,
     "disagreements": []