Have you ever wondered how kids learn their first set of languages,
and how it is different from the way, we grown-ups, learn new languages?
I think, kids learn them and the real world at the same time,
hence they map words with real things - like the word ‘chocolate’ with
something sweet in a wrapper they love to eat.
On the other hand, when grown-ups try to learn one - they
mostly map words in it with corresponding words in the language they
already know - like ‘halu’ in Kannada means milk.
Intuitively, the grown-ups’ way of learning new languages looks more
efficient, but if you have ever tried learning a new language, you
will know it’s not that easy. Somehow,
kids seem to pick languages easily than grown-ups. Of course, there are
people who are very good at picking them up, and can learn multiple
languages with comparatively ease,
but they are more or less exceptions. Another problem with grown-ups’
way is that they are limited by knowledge of
their previous known languages.
I think all this holds true for programming languages too. When you
learn your first programming language - you are not only learning a
new language, you are learning programming too.
After that, every new programming language you learn you subconsciously
try to map it’s constructs with known ones. And this is when, for
starters, learning one from a different paradigm
seems very tough. In my particular case, I found it extremely hard to
learn second programming language (after C) because I was trying to learn
C++ and Java, which are from a
different paradigm of object oriented programming. I gave up and
instead learnt Perl, gradually started using objects in it and finally
learnt object oriented programming.
Although I am still a beginner in funtional programming, but I think
object oriented programming to functional programming jump was
comparatively easy.
Be it human languages or programming ones, you learn them by practicing
them. And in this context, I feel, programming languages are easier to
learn than human languages. It takes courage
and readiness to make mistakes to learn new human languages, and
therefore, not surprsingly, you will still find me trying to use Hindi instead
of Kannada on the streets of Bangalore.
PS: “What is your good name” is literal Hindi transalation of “Aapka
shubh naam kya hai”, a polite way of asking somebody’s name in North
India.