Programming Languages Should Satisfy College Language Requirements

http://www.andykessler.com/

by Jonlz • 14 years ago

7 3 14 years ago

jfaucett• 14 years ago

I'm unsure how to take this. Foreign language skills in the US are dismal compared to just about any other country in the world. Usually by 7th grade most non english speaking europeans can at least communicate in English, whereas in the US (according to the article), foreign languages don't begin until after 7th grade. And the world is only getting more globalized, so the importance of being able to communicate in a foreign language is just as important as ever. That said, I agree that these skills should be attained much earlier, that's how it is in Germany, Poland, and the few other countries I have experience with. In high school you learn foreign langs, maths, the core skills, and once you're 18 you major in whatever and take only classes that relate to that subject.

All that being said, I'm a software developer and, in my opinion, the skills for programming are largely completely unrelated to those of communicating yourself in a foreign language. When you speak a foreign language, you have to convey abstract and complex thoughts in a matter of milliseconds, also comprehending what is being said, metaphors, slang, slurs, etc. In programming you're also in an abstract realm but you're dealing with numbers, functions, and non-verbal/acoustic information processing... So I don't think Programming should satisfy a College Language requirement, just teach the kids earlier, and do away with all non-relavent "requirements" once they go to college and major.

that's my 2 cents :)

Jonlz• 14 years ago

This was just an interesting supporting point in his larger argument of reforming American education. I would not remove foreign language requirements entirely but I support giving students a choice in what they learn.

Foreign language is a skill that enables you to communicate with the world around you and that world around you is now becoming increasingly computer-centric. I can see his argument. I never had a chance to learn CS in school as I was too busy filling in all kinds of requirements for my major. All kinds of things I rarely use today, it would hav e been nice to have the option to dabble in JS as a "requirement" in college!

jonsterling• 14 years ago

As a software engineer and graduating Linguistics major at Berkeley, I can say without a doubt that this is total bollocks. The author's poor understanding of natural language is clear. As far as my own anecdotal experience can be trusted (as one who has studied Greek, Latin, German, Anglo-Saxon and Sumerian in depth, and as one who has learnt many programming languages), education in programming languages does not augment understanding of natural languages. There are indeed theoretical relations (when looking at syntax, semantics and formal language theory, etc.); but these are largely irrelevant to someone who is trying to derive value from actually _knowing_ languages, rather than someone trying to understand the general structure of Language itself.

In addition, his total misunderstanding of programming languages is indicated by the inane turn of phrase, “If you want to require a useful language, make it Java or Perl or Python or any object-oriented language rather than Spanish.” What could possibly make an object-oriented language any closer to fulfilling a natural language requirement than a different programming language? Note that I'm not at this very moment arguing that OO languages are bad (ask me about that some other time); I'm simply noting that whether or not a language is OO is orthogonal to his point. In the best case, he's dropping names unnecessarily; in the worst case, he's repeating words that he doesn't understand. It would be like saying, “If you want to learn how to cook, start with spaghetti, manicotti, or any other kind of pasta”; it naturally brings up the question, “Why must one learn to cook using pasta?”

Programming Languages Should Satisfy College Language Requirements

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