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I don't feel any particular language is better than another. At the end of the day, it's just syntax. It's just which one best suits the task at hand. I recommend figuring out a project you'd like to make, simplify it greatly and pick a language that would suit it well. For example, if you want to make a game, use unity3d/c#. If you want to make a web app/site, look at something like python, ruby, js or something. desktop app? Depending on the platform, c#, mono, objc, etc. I myself find that without implementing what I read I'm never going to retain it. background: Full time dev. I need to switch languages at least every few years. And I help onboard jr devs and this is how we do it a lot of the time. Give a simple project and let them go.