A year ago, I asked Journaly what it’s like for a foreign language learner to learn a programming language.

https://journaly.com/post/32627

Recently, I dipped my toe into(don’t worry, there’s a glossary at the end of the post) programming languages for the first time. I began inputting formulas, first into word processors and later into a processor called MathJax. MathJax processes a language called LaTeX. (No, it’s not the chemical compound that rubber comes from.)

While programming languages versus organic languages truly is an apples to oranges comparison, the way I went about learning both is very similar. I have very little patience for starting a learning process with tutorial videos. For some reason, they always seem too slow for me. My preferred method of learning languages is simply experimenting and tweaking as I go, typing functions and pressing buttons and just seeing what happens. After I’ve come up with a few questions, not before, then I watch tutorial videos.

I’m probably the most chaotic language learner you’ve ever met. But I’ve learned that I need the chaos in order for the information to stick and to not get bored. With unbridled experimentation, the risk is higher, but the level of understanding and mastery is also exponentially higher.

People usually start learning languages by learning isolated data points. “Hello, how are you?” “It is raining” “Where is the train station?” Or in my case, \underline{text} and \Theta and $\\$. The fun part is when you begin to notice patterns. The patterns help you make educated guesses on things whose formulas/vocabulary you haven’t actually learned yet. For example, if some appliances are called “the thing that does x” in Spanish, I can guess that “dishwasher” will be “that which washes dishes,” or lavaplatos. Likewise, if I know the function for large brackets, I can guess the function for large parentheses.

I learned to touch type, which is typing without looking at your hands, having memorized where the different keys are, with lots of practice. Every time I saw a keyboard, I would position my hands, keep my eyes straight in front of me, and click away. Even if I didn’t have a keyboard around, sometimes I would pantomime typing and visualize where the keys are located. This practice as a young kid helped me breeze through typing class once I finally reached the age to take it. (I think learning piano also helped in this regard, [now that I] come to think of it. Although I never got the hang of “touch-playing.” Piano is hard!!!)

I used this same approach to learning Spanish as well as LaTeX. Even without a computer around, I’m constantly quizzing myself, asking myself “how would these data points fit together? How could I express this with my limited vocabulary?” If you ever wondered how I managed to speak Spanish with almost no conversation partners, this is how. Mental training, baby.

However, my favorite thing about learning LaTeX is proving myself wrong. I didn't think I would be able to grasp a programming language--granted, LaTeX is actually a software system, a markup language. But still, this has been my first step doing the impossible, or at least what I thought was impossible.

I got such a thrill from beginning to learn Spanish because before that, I never thought I’d be able to grasp a whole new language. Bit by bit, I found myself getting closer to my goal, closer than many of my monolingual peers would ever get (those who only take language courses because they are required to and forget the information later).

If you want to learn something but don't think you can master it, try it anyway. See how far you get. It will probably be further than you think.

Glossary

Dip one’s toe into

Begin to attempt something new

apples to oranges

things that are so categorically different that it’s impossible to compare them

go about [doing something]

approach

unbridled

often used as a metaphor for “uninhibited”

a bridle is the leather mechanism that a rider puts around a horse’s nose and face and uses to steer it

breeze through

progress quickly through a process

get the hang of

become accustomed to executing a technique