Hello there! Today is a milestone as we step into Kotlin, a user-friendly, yet powerful language, popular in mobile and web programming spheres. This lesson will acquaint you with the basics of Kotlin, including syntax, comments, and writing your first print statement — fundamental concepts for entering the Kotlin world.

Understanding a language starts with its syntax — the structure and rules that govern how the code is written — which serves as the backbone of any programming language. For instance, let's consider this straightforward Kotlin statement:

Kotlin
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1println("Hello, World!")

println is a built-in Kotlin function that prints the argument provided to it. In our case, the argument is the string "Hello, World!".

Comments are crucial in coding as they improve the readability of your code, making it easy to understand not only for others but for you as well in the future. Comments are added with the purpose of making the code easier for humans to understand, and they do not affect the code execution in any way. Kotlin offers both single-line and multi-line comments.

Here is a single-line comment:

Kotlin
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1// This is a single-line comment in Kotlin

Multi-line comments spread across multiple lines and are enclosed within /* */:

Kotlin
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1/* 
2This 
3is 
4a 
5multi-line 
6comment 
7in 
8Kotlin 
9*/

Think of comments as notes in your coding diary — they explain your code and enhance its comprehensibility.

Now, let's write our first Kotlin program based on what we've learned so far. We'll use the println function to write a simple print statement. While the convention is to print "Hello, World!", feel free to print whatever you like.

Kotlin
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1fun main() {
2  println("Hello, CodeSignal!")
3}

Here, we've defined the main function. When a Kotlin program is run, the main function is always executed. We then called println within main to print "Hello, CodeSignal!" to the console.

Great work! You've taken your first steps in Kotlin, covering the essentials: Kotlin syntax, the importance and use of comments, and crafting a basic println program.

Remember, reinforcing the skills you've gained through practice is invaluable. Stay tuned for the upcoming exercises that are designed to solidify today's learning. Keep up the good work, and continue enjoying this Kotlin expedition! We're just getting started!