I think your language metaphor works here, but I won't try to extend it for fear of misleading you with anthropomorphism :)

Anthropomorphized code reads like someone reading off a gigantic checklist that keeps getting longer and longer. Each time a new problem comes up, we solve it by adding another "If A then B" except it's something like this

    if foo.bar.baz[0][1]['value']
      if (foo.bar.baz[0][1]['value'] == 'undocumented business rule')
        globalVariable = false # why? who knows
      else
        globalVariable = true

      globalVaraiable = foo.bar.baz[0][1]['value']

Relying on “If A then B” quickly get out of hand. The number of possible paths that your code can take grows quickly, even exponentially depending on the structure of your program. I don't want to be dogmatic, but always be asking yourself if you can structure your code as to avoid relying heavily on conditionals, especially nested ones.

Focus on the problem you're trying to solve, not the operational details of the language or other tools you're using. However, keep exposing yourself to more languages, that are different from each other in semantics, run-times. Learn about different programming paradigms: declarative, imperative, functional, etc, focusing on semantics and not syntax.