[mburney]

treat it as a learning experience rather than a deliverable product.

But what is the purpose of mentioning this?

If you are recommending that he go ahead with the endeavour, then what does it matter if he ends up with a deliverable product or not.

Also, these kind of projects can have a timeframe of years, regardless of programming skill. If he finishes it, it will be a result of him sticking to it in the long run, not a result of how much C knowledge he had on the first day of the project.