So, looking into this a bit more, it seems that it's because the language-filter settings only apply to public timelines - not your home/personal timeline.
Which sucks. I don't use public timelines; my personal timeline is enough of a firehose already, thank you very much. Which is why I wanted to filter out posts in languages I don't understand. These posts get into my timeline because lots of hashtags are used by posters in many different languages, even if the words they're based on are English (or whatever) words.
Looking in the #Mastodon repository, there are lots of bug reports / issues / feature requests for exactly what I was hoping for here. Some date back five years or more.
Given how badly this lack of filtering impacts a busy personal timeline, I'm kind of surprised there's been no action on any of these reports.
#MastoBug #bug #feature #timeline #language #filter #firehose