Talk presented during J-Spring on 08-06-2022. Title: Wired Description: How your brain learns new (programming) languages

1. HOW YOUR BRAIN LEARNS NEW (PROGRAMMING) LANGUAGES
Simone de Gijt

2. Graduated in 2015 as a
Speech and Language Therapist
and finished the premaster
Speech and Language Pathology
Directly after switched to IT.
Currently working for
OpenValue Amsterdam
Text

3. 10 COMPARISONS BETWEEN TECH & LINGUISTICS
COMPUTER SCIENCE VS NEUROSCIENCE
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE VS NEUROPLASTICITY
MEMORY STORAGE VS COGNITIVE LOADING
DOMAIN DRIVEN DESIGN VS VOCABULARY
MOTHERBOARD VS BRAIN
PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE VS SPOKEN LANGUAGE
CODEACADEMY VS DUOLINGO
SUPPORTIVE COLLEAGUE VS KINDERGARDEN TEACHER
READABLE CODE VS DOCTOR’S HANDWRITING
LITTLE NERDS VS LITTLE LINGUISTICS

4. 1. COMPUTER SCIENCE VS NEUROSCIENCE
Computer science is the study
of computers and computing.
Key concept  all information
can be represented as
sequences of zeros and ones.

5. 1. COMPUTER SCIENCE VS NEUROSCIENCE
1 2 4

6. 1. COMPUTER SCIENCE VS NEUROSCIENCE
 Neurons are the cells
that receive, process
and transmits
messages from and to
other cells.
 An average adult has
about 86 billion
neurons!
(that’s 9 zeros)
Study about
the brain

7. 2. ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE VS NEUROPLASTICITY
 Neuroplasticity is the
nervous system’s
potential for change,
to adapt to
experience.
 Note: Neuroplasticity
gets used up as the
brain changes and
those changes
stabilize.
AI is the simulation of
human intelligence
processes by machines

8. 3. MEMORY STORAGE VS COGNITIVE LOADING
Cognitive loading is the amount of information that working memory can hold at one
time.
RAM:
Random
access
memory
Non-
volatile
memory
Short term Long term

9. 4. DOMAIN DRIVEN DESIGN VS VOCABULARY
Customer
Name
Address
Date of birth
IBAN / account
number
Identification
number

10. 4. DOMAIN DRIVEN DESIGN VS VOCABULARY
Colors
Red
Blue
Yellow
Orange
Black
Animals
Fish Birds Mammals
Goldfish Owl House pets Predators
Pufferfish Seagull Dog Tiger
Clown fish Cat Lion
Rabbit Bear
Tiger
Oranje
Black
Jungle
Predator
Environment
Desert
Jungle
City
Forest
Sea

11. 5. MOTHERBOARD VS BRAIN

12. 5. MOTHERBOARD VS BRAIN
Frontal
Occipital
Temporal
Parietal

13. 5. MOTHERBOARD VS BRAIN
Executive functions:
 Planning
 Motor functions
 Memory
 Attention
 Motoric functions
of speech
Frontal

14. 5. MOTHERBOARD VS BRAIN
Visual interpretation:
• Recognize
• Interpret
Occipital

15. 5. MOTHERBOARD VS BRAIN
Cognitive and sensory
integration:
 Sensory
 Writing
Parietal

16. 5. MOTHERBOARD VS BRAIN
Auditory functions:
 Association
 Processing spoken
language
 Giving meaning
to words
 Reading
Temporal

18. 6. LANGUAGE VS PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
1. Phonology
2. Semantics
3. Syntax / Morphology

19. 6. LANGUAGE VS PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
Phonology
The sounds that we recognize a word by,
depending on the context
N/A
Sounds that separate the meaning of a
word
N/A

20. 6. LANGUAGE VS PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
Semantics
Meaning of words / vocabulary
Looping = A feature which facilitates the
execution of a set of instructions/functions
repeatedly while some condition evaluates
to true
Categorizing word-groups
Looping:
 While
 For
 Do while

21. 6. LANGUAGE VS PROGRAMMING LANGUAGE
Syntax / Morphology
Sentence structure
While:
1. Starts with while
2. Followed by a condition within parenthesis
3. Finished by statement(s) within curly
brackets
Grammar Never write class names in plural
Shaping of words Always start a function name with a verb

22. 7. CODEACADEMY VS DUOLINGO

23. How does a child learn a new language?
 Parrot other people
 Start with the words they hear the most
 Start easy
 Try out different situations (repetition) 
E.g. Class:
 Abstract class
 Final class
 Static class
 Inner class
7. CODEACADEMY VS DUOLINGO
Be careful of
bad examples

24. 7. CODEACADEMY VS DUOLINGO
Improve your vocabulary
Weekly learning schedule:
 Study time: take 30 minutes (max. 5 topics) of
learning or one topic.
 Write down
 Visualize
 Associate
 Use them
 Evaluate
 Explain to others

25. Improve your syntax / grammar skills
 Write down mnemonics
 Write down the different scenarios in which to
use the word
 Creative contextual association connects a
symbol to a grammatic rule.
• E.g. Records
Semantic meaning: Data class with immutable data.
Grammatic rule: Already implemented constructor,
getter, equals(), hashCode() an toString()
Symbol: 
7. CODEACADEMY VS DUOLINGO

26. How to prevent different languages from mixing
up?
 Prevent too much context switching
 Try to visualize the use of a language in your
mind.
7. CODEACADEMY VS DUOLINGO
Records
Stream
Data
class
Java Kotlin
Fun fact: The more language you learn,
The easier it is to learn a new language

27. Positively correct newbies by giving the right example and making use of the
“parroting” principles:
 Direct feedback: Suggested change in MR
 Indirect feedback: Present an example in..
..your MR
8. SUPPORTIVE COLLEAGUE VS KINDERGARTEN TEACHER
Kid: “Mama, me wanting apple”
Mother: “Ohh, I want a tasty apple too”
John: “for (int i = 1; I < list.count(); i++) {…}
Barbara: “for (String item : list)”
Barbara: “list.stream().forEach( item -> .. )”

28.  Pair programming
 Reviewer role
 Put the words/techniques in broader perspective
 Talk about it:
 Learning techniques;
 Handy-man
 Mr. wise-guy
 Mrs. magnifying glass
 Reviews
 New techniques/articles/blogs
8. SUPPORTIVE COLLEAGUE VS KINDERGARTEN TEACHER

29.  Patterns lead to consistency
 Agreements
 Tools
 Naming conventions
9. READABLE CODE VS DOCTOR’S HANDWRITING

30. STRATEGY 0-4
Don’t do it.
10. LITTLE NERDS VS LITTLE LINGUISTICS

31. STRATEGY 4-7
Coding concepts
 Algorithm
 Sequence
 Loop
 Decomposition
 Branch
 Debug
10. LITTLE NERDS VS LITTLE LINGUISTICS

32. STRATEGY 7-12
Introduce code as a game
10. LITTLE NERDS VS LITTLE LINGUISTICS

33. STRATEGY 12+
 Text based coding
 Gamification
 E.g. CodaKid
10. LITTLE NERDS VS LITTLE LINGUISTICS

35. Twitter:
@de_gijt
LinkedIn:
Simone de
Gijt
Slideshare:

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• https://teachyourkidscode.com/coding-for-kindergarten-5-basic-coding-concepts-5-
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SOURCES