Programming 101: Learn English

Should English continue to be the lingua franca of programming? Think about if, else, for, while, break – to most of you, these keywords have obvious meanings; but to any non-English speaker who is learning to code, these are merely symbols that must be memorized. We have talked a lot about internationalization and localization for the products we're building, so why aren't we applying the same concepts to our industry? Today, English is still a barrier of entry to tech. Many people still regard fluency of English as a sign of competency. Inferiority complex is still common among the developers who speak English as a second language. In this talk, you will get a glimpse of what it's like to code in a foreign language. Together, we will explore the advantages of being able to collaborate in one language, the dangerous implications of accepting that as the default, and how we can do better as a community.

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