My dad is nearing retirement and has never thought of himself as someone who is capable of programming. However, he is mechanically inclined. Was a mechanic for sometime and knows construction fairly well. This mechanical aptitude leads me to believe that he would be able to pick up programming just fine.
Anyway, I think this would be an excellent resource for him to take his first steps.
For Japanese (I realize that's not what you're looking for, stay with me) there is a chrome plugin called Yomichan which allows you to create an anki card from any japanese word you.
I wonder based on your study environment (if it's web based) if you could find a similar plugin that's more general purpose or develop one yourself.