Oh man, I'm running into this just teaching my kids to read. English is a shit language to speak natively and then try to read. When starting, words like "people" you read like "pee ah pull" - there are so many words you have to "just know" how they're pronounced and learn that the word you're reading connects to those sounds even though the letters don't connect to the noises you're making.
Where in Spanish, once you know the rules, you can read the language out loud without knowing what you're even saying.
Likewise with programming, a language that relies mainly on symbols takes a lot to learn when those concepts don't even exist in your head. What's a function? An expression? A token? An operator? A scope? The best thing to do is use a language that doesn't make you know all those things at once to get started.
Where in Spanish, once you know the rules, you can read the language out loud without knowing what you're even saying.
Likewise with programming, a language that relies mainly on symbols takes a lot to learn when those concepts don't even exist in your head. What's a function? An expression? A token? An operator? A scope? The best thing to do is use a language that doesn't make you know all those things at once to get started.