Upgrade to Pro — share decks privately, control downloads, hide ads and more …

How we learn a language

How we learn a language

We all use language in fun and interesting ways, even when we don’t think about it. Our industry brings us together with people from all over the world, even some of the folks attending this conference will speak English as a second or even third language.

In a past life I was a teacher of english as a foreign language, and these days I’ve kept that passion for languages alive by becoming multilingual myself.

I’ll speak about how we pick up a programming language in much the same way as we learn to speak a natural language and then integrate ourselves in the culture surrounding that programming language in much the same way.

I’m not going to talk at boring lengths about language theory, but instead evaluate how we learn a language as humans – regardless of its origin. I hope to make it clear that you can apply some of – if not all – the same skills you use to easily pick up a new programming language to give you a real leg-up in learning a foreign language.

Ryan Stenhouse

June 30, 2012
Tweet

More Decks by Ryan Stenhouse

Other Decks in Programming

Transcript

  1. How we learn a
    language
    @ryanstenhouse
    http://www.freeagent.com

    View Slide

  2. Hello!
    • @ryanstenhouse
    • http://ryanstenhouse.eu

    View Slide

  3. How we learn a
    language

    View Slide

  4. http://ryanstenhouse.eu/talks/how-we-learn-a-language for picture credits.

    View Slide

  5. You’ve already learned another language!
    http://ryanstenhouse.eu/talks/how-we-learn-a-language for picture credits.

    View Slide

  6. You’ve done it before!

    View Slide

  7. écoutez et répétez

    View Slide

  8. http://ryanstenhouse.eu/talks/how-we-learn-a-language for picture credits.

    View Slide

  9. Programming Ruby is available at
    http://pragprog.com

    View Slide

  10. Shibuya, 2005 (I’m an awful photographer)
    ?
    ? ?
    ?
    ?

    View Slide

  11. Osaka
    Tokyo
    ~250 miles apart
    Sounds like a different
    language

    View Slide

  12. Map (c) 2012 Microsoft and Terra Italy, From http://binged.it/Oy4PMV
    PCCL’s Office in 2007
    My beat up Ford Mondeo

    View Slide

  13. We’re problem
    solvers

    View Slide

  14. Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is available at
    http://pragprog.com

    View Slide

  15. Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is available at
    http://pragprog.com
    “Programming is all about
    problem solving. It requires
    creativity, ingenuity, and
    invention.”

    View Slide

  16. Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is available at
    http://pragprog.com
    “… we need to look at the really hard
    problems of social interaction in and between
    teams and even at the harder issues of just
    plain old thinking. No project is an island;
    software can’t be built or perform in
    isolation.”

    View Slide

  17. Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is available at
    http://pragprog.com
    “Programmers have to learn constantly—not
    just the stereotypical new technologies but
    also the problem domain of the application,
    the whims of the user community, the quirks
    of their teammates, the shifting sands of the
    industry, and the evolving characteristics of
    the project itself as it is built.”

    View Slide

  18. Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is available at
    http://pragprog.com
    “We have to learn—and relearn—
    constantly. Then we have to apply this learning
    to the daily barrage of both old and new
    problems.”

    View Slide

  19. Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is available at
    http://pragprog.com
    “It sounds easy enough in principle perhaps,
    but learning, critical thinking, creativity, and
    invention—all those mind-expanding skills—
    are all up to you. You don’t get taught; you
    have to learn.”

    View Slide

  20. Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is available at
    http://pragprog.com
    “We tend to look at the teacher/learner
    relationship the wrong way around: it’s not
    that the teacher teaches; it’s that the student
    learns. The learning is always up to you.”

    View Slide

  21. Pragmatic Thinking & Learning is available at
    http://pragprog.com

    View Slide

  22. Why not treat it like
    a software
    problem?

    View Slide

  23. View Slide

  24. BALLE
    BALL
    Ϙʔϧ

    View Slide

  25. BALLE
    Ϙʔϧ

    View Slide

  26. Vocabulary
    +
    Grammar

    View Slide

  27. Vocabulary
    +
    Grammar

    View Slide

  28. It’s all in your head

    View Slide

  29. It’s all
    communication.

    View Slide

  30. Break it down

    View Slide

  31. Iterate

    View Slide

  32. Engage

    View Slide

  33. Try it.

    View Slide

  34. More Online + Credits
    • http://ryanstenhouse.eu/talks/how-we-
    learn-a-language

    View Slide

  35. http://www.freeagent.com/jobs

    View Slide