<p>I was only suggesting that learning market-driven languages is more applicable than, per say, LISP or Scheme. Java is a very useful programming language to learn first because C# is very similar, as well as object-oriented PHP. You kill several birds with one stone, and not only that; you save time, money, and gain more applicable knowledge. </p>
<p>Sure, if logic is what drives the interest in programming, then take any programming course, that would fulfill the needs. I’m just very confuzzled by the idea of wanting to take “any” programming language “introductory” course. Is there an introductory course at all? If you want to study Linguistics, and Romance languages are high in popularity (equivalent to market-driven programming languages), why would you want to learn Chinese and not Spanish? When you learn Spanish, there are many similarities in French, Italian, Portuguese, etc.</p>
<p>Maybe you’re not emphasizing of what your daughter (I assume?) wants to do with that knowledge. You can learn many programming languages just by looking for them, and as a matter of fact, the world away from keyboard isn’t always the best option.</p>