How can I print a block (the language switcher) without the block-related classes?
Digging locale_block_view() out of locale.module:

/**
 * Implements hook_block_view().
 *
 * Displays a language switcher. Only show if we have at least two languages.
 */
function locale_block_view($type) {
  if (drupal_multilingual()) {
    $path = drupal_is_front_page() ? '&lt;front&gt;' : $_GET['q'];
    $links = language_negotiation_get_switch_links($type, $path);

    if (isset($links-&gt;links)) {
      drupal_add_css(drupal_get_path('module', 'locale') . '/locale.css');
      $class = "language-switcher-{$links-&gt;provider}";
      $variables = array('links' =&gt; $links-&gt;links, 'attributes' =&gt; array('class' =&gt; array($class)));
      $block['content'] = theme('links__locale_block', $variables);
      $block['subject'] = t('Languages');
      return $block;
    }
  }
}


shows that it is "just" theming up some links.  So, you have a couple options here that may work depending on what exact divs/CSS you want/don't want:


Override theme_links() to use "links__local_block" and wrap it in some divs that you can apply CSS to.
Stuff all the guts above in a custom module's block_view() so you can override its block CSS.
Add different or additional classes to the $variables[class'] array,
Include, or override in your theme, a different locale.css file,
Override the block.tpl.php for this specific block, eg, block--locale.tpl.php (see: http://drupal.org/node/1089656) (copy it out of .../modules/block/block.tpl.php and into your theme and change the classes)