My wife and I spent almost 10 years doing development work in Nepal, Papua New Guinea, and Thailand. We became proficient in the most widely spoken language of those places. The language served the purposes of our work. It was secondary, but it was vital to our effectiveness and transformative to our overall experience.
That experience influences my approach to teaching my ninth-graders Snap! It is secondary to the physics that will be learned, but I know it can enhance the learning, and the exposure to scientific coding could ultimately be a transformational experience for some.
My language training in those years overseas had features I want to create in my classroom. It will be planned and focused. I want sustained periods of immersion with opportunities to debrief. There are other important educational factors of which I must be mindful, but the concept of Snap! (and other programming languages) as a means to communicate, share ideas, and reap insight frames my message in the classroom.