"I wish more developers treated learning to program like learning a foreign language. When you're learning a foreign language, your #1 goal is to cast off any poor grammar or pronunciation and sound like an intelligent native speaker."
I'm not sure that's true at all. When I learn a foreign language, my aim is to be able to communicate. The extra effort required to be perfect far outweighs what I need from it. The native speakers I talk to are quite capable of taking my bad grammar and understand my meaning. Wanting to sound like an intelligent native speaker isn't just at the bottom of my list of needs; it's not even on the list.
When learning a programming language, I have no choice; I must have perfect grammar.
"Such poor communication skills would be humiliating when trying to communicate in a foreign language"
Not at all, in my experience. Simply having some simple grasp of the local language is met with delight; just having made the effort goes a long way, even if the locals themselves prefer to speak with me in English.
I'm not sure that's true at all. When I learn a foreign language, my aim is to be able to communicate. The extra effort required to be perfect far outweighs what I need from it. The native speakers I talk to are quite capable of taking my bad grammar and understand my meaning. Wanting to sound like an intelligent native speaker isn't just at the bottom of my list of needs; it's not even on the list.
When learning a programming language, I have no choice; I must have perfect grammar.
"Such poor communication skills would be humiliating when trying to communicate in a foreign language"
Not at all, in my experience. Simply having some simple grasp of the local language is met with delight; just having made the effort goes a long way, even if the locals themselves prefer to speak with me in English.