Fennel is a language a lot like Lua, but it simplifies the syntax and removes some of the most error-prone and troublesome features of Lua while adding modern conveniences like pattern matching and a capable REPL for interactive use. That description omits to mention it’s a language in the lisp family, which I think has an undeserved negative association in the mind of the average programmer. Maybe it’s better to focus on the concrete benefits like the simplified syntax and lack of operator precedence rules to memorize!