You've got a 200-day Duolingo streak. The owl is proud of you. Then you land in Rome, sit down in a trattoria, and order. Every word is owl-approved. The grammar too. You think. The waiter nods, smiles, and brings you something you don't really want. Is beef cheeks a thing? Knowing the words isn't knowing the language. Even with a 200-day streak. Code is made of words. Words that computers understand. If we could talk to computers with natural language, everything would be great. ...