> Maybe because he's studying computer science and his mom thinks languages are a waste of time? Very close. I feel that studying regular computer languages is

> Maybe because he's studying computer science and his mom thinks languages are a waste of time? Very close. I feel that studying regular computer languages is not as exciting and challenging as studying a real spoken language. I was encouraged to post this by the article about "Learning French" from earlier today (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17682100 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17682100). In the article, it cites an analogy to those Internet ads promising language acquisition in X days or even X months as akin to those that promote the magical X day diet. I felt that this particular fiction piece was a beautiful representation of the stumbling/halting/humbling/unsteady progression up the intermediate mountain slope of language acquisition, as one progresses from being able to talk solely in the present to describe events in the past and ideas and concepts. To be able to express yourself in a non-native language, even if done imperfectly and garbled-ly, is a win if the other person is able to get the gist of what you are saying. Eventually, you will be able to have those deep conversations and little stories about your life (good and bad) that you already do among friends in your native language. I'm not there yet (in Spanish), and I've come a long way in 3 years.