It’s been approximately 20 days of learning Tibetan and JavaScript, and it’s amazing. I’ve gone from struggling with sounds and similar alphabets to figuring out the difference between ‘for in’ and ‘for of’ loops. Now, I can read Tibetan books, though I don’t always know the meaning of the letters. I understand the sounds, and it’s the same with JavaScript — I get the code but don’t yet know how to program fully. Right now, I’m not focusing on learning the meanings of words or building small JavaScript programs. Instead, I’m diving deeper into sentence structures, basic grammar, and revisiting CSS.

When I was working on a small Codecademy project — a random code generator — I got stuck on two things: the design aspect and a CORS error. I figured out the first step of the CORS solution, which was reverse proxy, but on the design side, I discovered cool new things like CSS Grid. It made me realize that the 9th-grade CSS I learned is nothing compared to what CSS is capable of now. Back then, I wasn’t even interested in CSS, but now I understand the true potential of good design and how it can turn something dull into something really cool. I’ve also come to appreciate the importance of words and how language is essential for sharing ideas by speaking the same tongue (copy-writing).

The most exciting part is when you start recognizing those alien words, and you can read them — it makes you even more eager to learn. The same goes for coding: when you start solving problems with code, it feels amazing. Throughout the process, you also discover language exceptions and new sounds, and the more you try, the more you uncover.

Learning a new language is like being a child again — no ego, saying things wrong without intention, constantly testing things, and unlearning your old ways. But there’s one difference: this time, you already have some tools with you. For example, if you know C++ and are learning JavaScript, you already understand concepts like loops, so your pace of learning won’t be exactly like a child’s.

However, being curious like a child can make you learn faster. If you’re motivated to build something you’re interested in, and you need a language to write code, or if you love a culture and want to speak its language, or your friends speak a different language and you want a common one, you’ll start learning. Yes, the desire to learn a new spoken language and the desire to learn a coding language are quite similar. I believe those who want to build something cool or speak with their friends in their language have the same drive.