Code is not a foreign language, and high schools shouldn't treat it that way

I remember in high school I tried to get them to count my Intro to Java class as a foreign language, to no avail.

In hindsight, I kind of agree with their decision. Obviously I love programming (hence why I'm always on HN), but I don't think about C/Haskell/Lisp/etc. in the same way that I think about English.

While I understand that there are semantics that are superficially similar, I feel programming is closer to mathematics than English, and I don't think anyone is suggesting that we count algebra as a foreign language.

> Of perhaps no doubt though is that at the present time, complete fluency/competency in a computer language is far more valuable to an individual than mastery of any language other than english.

I think one of the main reasons foreign languages are required is because it's an attempt to connect people with the outside world. There are positive implications on diplomacy and politics when you have a generation of young people grow up being exposed to other cultures and (trying) to learn other languages. This is more important for the world than teaching every child how to become a slave to the computer.

No.

> My understanding is that the younger you are the easier it is to pick up a foreign language.

The latest research I've seen indicates that this is false. When you look at vocabulary in "words learned per hour of study", adults actually do much better than children. (I'm sure I've seen a study of this involving the U.S. State Department or some such, but I can't find it right now.) This isn't surprising to me: adults already know noun/verb/adjective/adverb, how [a] grammar works, a big pile of cognates/loanwords, etc.

The reason children seem to learn quicker is because they're exposed to the language every hour of the day. They have no choice. If they want to do anything at all, it requires using the target language. They make up for lower efficiency by brute force.

Adults tend to do poorly at learning foreign languages because they only spend an hour or two a day with it. Learning a language feels like a lot of work, and adults usually fail because they have the resources to be able to avoid interacting with it. This is also why "full immersion" (living in a place where they speak that language) is fast and effective even for adults.

(Think you're going overboard by spending 3 hours a day studying French? That's less than 1/5 of your waking hours. Any child in Paris will learn French 5 times faster, not because they're younger but because they're putting in an extra 13+ hours a day exposed to French.)

> I know lots of people that regret not learning a 2nd language earlier in life.

Sure, and I know people who regret not learning to dance, getting in shape, playing a musical instrument, etc. I also know people who started these things as adults and are just as accomplished as those who started young. And I know many people who started these things when they were young, and then gave them up -- and have basically lost all the effort they put into it. (After long enough, you can even forget your first language.) This fascination with youth needs to end.

I don't think anyone seriously thinks that learning a computer language is in any way equivalent to learning a foreign language. But it is useful to pretend that it does, so that we don't have to ask the real question:

Should everyone be required to study a foreign language in school?

My answer is no. I took a year of Latin in high school and hated it, and have never thought about it since. It was a huge waste of time. And if classifying computer languages as foreign languages can help some students opt-out, I'm all for it.