What Coding and Language Learning Have In Common

Back in the bygone days of Myspace I learned my first foreign language. Eager to express my "individual" pre-teen self, I scurried over to W3schools and learned enough CSS and HTML to code my own layouts. With the rise of Facebook, I gradually shifted platforms, leaving my coding experience behind until college.

As I am now brushing up on my coding skills - and learning a few new tricks, I've noticed it's much easier to figure out than when I was 13. But that has little to do with age, and more about language experience. If you know how to learn another language, you can learn to code, and vice-versa. 

An example of a basic HTML table code and the results.

The first correlation is the mindset. Particularly, with language learning, there is a drive to go out and get speaking practice first - which isn't untrue. However, that isn't the only way to begin. Coding, however, has reintroduced me to what I really love about language - the act of building something. This isn't just stacking up new phrases or words, but rather the act of designing and figuring out how to tell or show a 'story' - whether that's how your day was or how to create a blog layout. In web developing and language learning, you can create projects for practice, and enjoy other realms of the language beyond speaking.

Second, knowing grammar is essential. And strategies to figure out grammar have assisted me in learning new code. Programming languages have rules, and while it may not be the same as finding the direct object, the strategies and results are similar. Using context and playing around with the "order" until your speaking partner (or the computer) understands you. There are numerous grammatical rules, and even if you can't figure something out right away, there's always another way to say it. In code, too, there are different ways of expressing the same action.

Discovering these patterns in language and code can be done by looking at source material. Both subjects require the ability to be able to figure out the meaning from context. This particular skill is often suggested in language textbooks from the very beginning, and also is active in immersion techniques.

Finally, in both coding and language learning, it's important to remember that whatever you are trying to build upon as been done before. That means that there are communities of language learners and native speakers to help you, along with numerous resources and guides. Although in both topics, the actual amount of resources tends to depend on how 'popular' your language of choice is. This means that although you're bound to be frustrated sometimes, you will eventually find the answer if you persist.

While coding should never be considered the same as foreign language study, the two definitely complement each other. Both require creativity and logic to function well, and you can work on them as individuals or in a group. And the best part - there's definite freebies around the web for learning both topics! So why not try something new?