commodore

I started to translate KTurtle into my native language, but now I'm thinking is it worth it? If one wants to be a programmer he has to learn English at some point. Or would it be better to teach children to program in their native language?

MBirchmeier

I'd say it depends on the age of the children... Perhaps the way to do it is teach them the translated language, until they are comfortable with the concepts, then switch to the english.

'Thinking like a programmer' is probablly the hardest (and I'd argue the most important) part of programming, the syntax is just the details. Plus if you're teaching them english, the same time as programming, it's just that much more they need to learn all at once.

-MBirchmeier

DaWei

There's a dimension beyond natural langage, though. The token, "IF", conveys a concept beyond the English definition. If I'm sitting at a bar with a friend who looks around and says, "Cherchez la femme", I know exactly what's up, without translating it in my mind, and I don't speak French.

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Abstraction doesn't make it impossible to write bad code; it makes it possible to write superior code.
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