Yes! This for sure plays a huge role as well. How many times have we as programmers picked up a new language, done the 'Hello World', and then set it down and went back to one we already know? Spoken languages are much the same. They all include various concepts that are shared (verbs, nouns, adjectives, grammar concepts, loops, variables, functions, etc) but the actual process of putting them together in the idiomatic order is the hard part.
But without the carrot at the end of the stick, it's unlikely you'll be disciplined enough to stick to it. A new job is a natural place for many people to pick up a new programming language because everything else is also new. For languages it is no different. Can you learn a language outside of the country where it's commonly spoken? Sure, but it's going to be 100x more difficult and you have to generate all of the discipline yourself. If you can crack that problem and build the discipline, then you've basically won the war if you can hold in there "long enough for your enemy to starve." :D
But without the carrot at the end of the stick, it's unlikely you'll be disciplined enough to stick to it. A new job is a natural place for many people to pick up a new programming language because everything else is also new. For languages it is no different. Can you learn a language outside of the country where it's commonly spoken? Sure, but it's going to be 100x more difficult and you have to generate all of the discipline yourself. If you can crack that problem and build the discipline, then you've basically won the war if you can hold in there "long enough for your enemy to starve." :D