I learned programming before entering a degree in this stuff and I think learning a badly designed language as first language made me lose a few years, and additionally, if I weren't so driven to learn more, I probably still wouldn't know more than many others, and might have never explored the field of functional languages. If I hadn't started reading SICP and exploring Scheme and others, I wouldn't know half of what I know now about computer programming.

Sticking to only some Algol family language makes people have a severely limited perspective on things.