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When I was 14, I started learning C from a book that built around this premise. I think it was called "Type & Learn C." It worked - by the end of the summer I was a somewhat proficient C programmer.

I still think it's kind of amazing how such simple advice can be so effective. I often find that when I'm struggling to grok a new language or framework, that I've forgotten to hand-type at least a few examples.

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Here's my current working hypothesis.

The part of the body that learns how to program[1] doesn't speak English. You hear it even in the metaphors programmers use: code smell, this "feels" like a recursive problem, "listen to your code," etc.

That means to learn as quickly as you can you want as many parts of your body involved -- the English-speaking part, your muscles, your eyes, your memories of all the times you've made a stupid mistake only to have it cause you hours of frustration down the road, etc.

[1]: Really, the part of the body that learns anything doesn't speak English. English is just the data exchange format. ;)

See neural network deep learning :-)

Alternatively, maybe you should get your English-speaking part out of the way and let your brain "absorb" code patterns as you read or type them, without overthinking it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzR8x5MgvDw

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