The Speak Language skill doesn't work like a standard skill.
The character starts at 1st level knowing one or two languages (according to the character's race) plus an additional number of languages equal to the character's Intelligence bonus.
Instead of buying a rank in Speak Language, the character chooses a new language that the character can speak.
The character doesn't make Speak Language checks. The character either knows a language or the character doesn't.
A literate character (anyone but a barbarian) can read and write any language she speaks. Each language has an alphabet (though sometimes several spoken languages share a single alphabet).
Common languages and their alphabets are summarized in Table: Languages
| Table: Languages | |
|---|---|
| Language | Alphabet |
| Abyssal | Infernal |
| Aquan | Elven |
| Auran | Draconic |
| Celestial | Celestial |
| Common | Common |
| Draconic | Draconic |
| Druidic | Druidic |
| Dwarven | Dwarven |
| Elven | Elven |
| Gnome | Dwarven |
| Goblin | Dwarven |
| Giant | Dwarven |
| Gnoll | Common |
| Halfling | Common |
| Ignan | Draconic |
| Infernal | Infernal |
| Orc | Dwarven |
| Sylvan | Elven |
| Terran | Dwarven |
| Undercommon | Elven |
Retry: Not applicable. (There are no Speak Language checks to fail.)