English for a programmer or what is the best bet?

Question

Programming

Good afternoon!
I already had questions here about learning programming and learning English, but I decided to get advice from experienced programmers who know English well.
Briefly about myself, so that you understand why I ask such questions: I am 29 years old, I have a wife, a 1.5-year-old daughter and another child on the way, and I have to provide all of them in the not the cheapest city of Moscow, working as an enikey - this is me that even if it’s very impatient, to take it and go somewhere as a junior, well, it’s not an option at all. And it remains for me in my free time from work and family, and there is not much of it left (I can devote an hour a day, and the rest of the time is unpredictable), learn programming as a hobby, do something on open source, learn English and hope that either I can when it’s painless for the budget to switch to the profession of a programmer, or that my wife will go to work one day and I will go somewhere in June, then we will at least cover my earnings with a joint income.
So the question arose in my mind whether, with poor knowledge of English (I can read those literature with great difficulty and only with translators), take up the study of programming? At the moment, since the new year, I decided to bet on English, but with this approach, there is no time left for programming, and the goal is to improve English at least for free reading of the book Deitel C How to Program 7th edition and the opportunity to understand what the author is talking about, solve problems from the book and in English to write comments on my code and descriptions of the created programs. So that my question is not deleted for the lyrics, I would like to clarify that I am only interested in whether I did it right by throwing all my free time only into English or should I somehow distribute the load and how much English is needed for programmers, maybe I overestimated its necessity? Thank you.

Answer 1

One completes the other. At one time, learning programming and the need to delve into the documentation helped me a lot with English and vice versa, learning English contributes well to learning programming.
It makes sense to go to courses only if there are problems with self-discipline. Since you generally don't need proper pronunciation, start with the first 1000 most common words. The 1000 most common words in almost any language cover 60% -70% of all needs, and you can learn them in a week. 5000 words cover 85-90% of the words. Yes, you probably won’t be able to communicate without knowledge of grammar, but reading manuals is easy.
Then it's up to you - to continue learning the language in a normal way, or be content with the "programmer's glossary".

Answer 2

did I do the right thing by leaving all my free time only for English

No, not right (IMHO). At one point in time, you can only have 1 goal (either learning English or learning programming).
You have now selected English. OK. Language is not an end, but a means. What will you be using this tool for? What would you like to learn programming? OK. Then why not immediately take this book on C + vocabulary and combine? Too difficult? Well, take a book in English from the category "PC Device" or type Bits and Bytes for beginners and just read it in English with a dictionary, translating every word you don't understand. And then sit down for C.
For a long time? But what to do ... Here is a wonderful article recently published as a dude spent tens of thousands of dollars on learning English https://vc.ru/34462-lichnyy-opyt-kak-ya-potratil-d...they write that 4 hours a day every day = English for 3-4 months. You have an hour a day, which means about a year...
PS With such a marital status, I think it's easier (faster) to look for a source of income increase in the Russian-speaking segment, and then, as soon as you stabilize, you will study English.

Answer 3

Knowledge of English has nothing to do with programming. At most, these are lessons on foreign sites.

Answer 4

My opinion is that in this position it is better to devote all the time to programming. English can somehow be tightened up later. Or, in parallel, slowly study it (I use the same Lingvo Leo or Duo Lingua). In small offices that work with local firms, you can get a job without English.
ZY Besides, in some firms there are teachers in English, and it can be tightened at once there, at work.
ZYY Of course, it also depends on the chosen YaP and the scope. Somewhere all the information is only in English, somewhere - almost everything you need is in Russian.