As the question title suggest, all of us would love to learn something. What is that something? What is it you keep saying to yourself that when I have the time I'll learn it and why?
I'll start off: I want to learn about the history and development of the east. A lot more about the history of my country (India). Learn about communism, socialism and how China and USSR were affected. What did USSR do wrong that China did right? What is the Indian style of democracy? The history and development of Hinduism etc.
That's a quite a list of topics I want to cover. Thus I want to learn about certain parts of the east.
What about you hubski?
P.S: If you guys can provide materials for anything listed in this discussion, it would help everyone a lot! Thanks!
Something not STEM. I've bought into the whole STEM circlejerk for a while now, and even went so far to condemn anything not STEM. My opinion changed when I took World History, and I really enjoyed it. I've always been curious about philosophy, but I never actually took the time to try and pick it up. I think that's just a matter of "I don't know what to expect." I'd also like to get into art. I've tried writing or drawing before, but I almost always end up throwing my pen or pencil down in frustration because it's not perfect or because it reads awkwardly. I've always gotten a As and Bs in English, but that's mainly analytical writing and it always feels like I'm just pulling things out my ass. Finally, functional programming. Since that's the new trend nowadays in the programming community.
I'm afraid that Earn Philosophy is my weak point but I can suggest a few articles to get you started: Daoism Confucius Laozi Zen Budhism Hindu Philosophy Again, this isn't my strong suit, but these should help you getting started. Just probe different topics as you come across them and eventually you'll find your way. Good luck!
A quick overview of everything or the most important/prominent stuff. Like I said, I don't know anything about it. All the more reason to try it out, I guess.
If you want an overview of literally everything then read "The History of Western Philosophy". It's one of the very few things that philosophers actually have a consensus in saying that it is the definitive work in its field. If you want to just get an overview of different topics in philosophy then the Standford Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy are your best friends. To get started on the big topics in each field check out these articles depending on your interest: Ethics (What is a good action?) Moral Realism - "Is there a universal good? Are morals relative?" Virtue Ethics - "Virtue as the Good" Deontology - "Intentions for the sake of duty as the good" Consequentialism - "The consequence maximizing utility as the good" Nihilism - "There's no point to life so nothing is good" Existentialism - "Embracing the meaninglessness of life" Aesthetics (What is beauty?) Beauty - "Is beauty objective or subjective?" Logic (A system of rules to seek objective truth without necessarily needing perception): Classical Logic - "Deductive reasoning. If A then B; if B then C. A, therefore C." Inductive Reasoning - "A has followed B many times in the past. If A, then B is likely." The Problems of Induction - "What's wrong with it" Epistemology (What is knowledge?): A Priori and A Posteriori - "Knowledge independent of perception vs. dependent on perception." Rationalism vs. Empiricism - "Knowledge through logic (e.g. math) vs. knowledge through evidence (e.g. science)." Metaphysics (The study of the non-physical) Grounding - "Objects relations to other objects" Physicalism - "Everything is physical" Let me know if you have any questions. I'll help you out as best as I can with what I know.
What I wish more people would realize (or internalize) is that STEM sciences are heavily influenced by reductionism. Which works fine if you're working within STEM topics, but it is an approach that completely falls apart once you venture into other fields, as you run into the limits of reductionism really quickly. If you find this at all interesting, you might want to look into epistemology.
I've been playing with Python (the programming language!) on and off for awhile now. I'd really like to get a better understanding of the language and programming in general, since the logical nature meshes with how my brain works surprisingly well. It's actually fun to learn! My girlfriend is an amazing artist and that looks fun (watercolors). She had me watch Bob Ross magically create a painting and that was interesting. I'd love to do it myself, even in photoshop, but I have no artistic ability whatsoever. Edit - it was actually freaking astounding but I was rushed for time! Dude was a master. I'd also like to learn how to empathize better, but I don't know if that's even possible.
Nope. That's demonstrably not true. You have no patience to create art whatsoever. Huge difference. Most people who 'cant art' usually fall into one of two camps (or both!): those who simply aren't patient, draw something real quick, and it ends up sucking. Or those who simply don't know the techniques, but spend a lot of time making simple mistakes simply because they aren't aware. The 'worst' people at art tend to do both. That was me :P. I found the two 3DS titles: Art Academy and Pokemon Art Academy really fixed that for me. Taught some techniques, and taught me to slow the fuck down and take time. My art went from this: to this: Granted, the 'after' images are from the walkthroughs/tutorials, but are 100% drawn by me (except the charizard background :P) But yea. It's just taking the time and putting in the work, along with knowing some techniques used to make certain things. but I have no artistic ability whatsoever.
The first two images are so vastly beyond anything I've even attempted to create that it's not even funny. Your 'after' images are awesome! You're right, though. I don't have the patience to create art because I know how shitty I am at "art things" and attempting it seems like a waste of time and resources. I'm sure if I sat down in a class or with a book, I'd be able to produce something more than a pile of crap, but as of right now, I can't even close my circles when I draw them, so they look like a squished grape or something. Hold on while I work my magic on this piece of paper. Feast your eyes on my magnificence.
Do keep in mind both those "before" images are both images I drew while explicitly attempting to make something remotely showable/good. Both are from after years of doodling and getting 'mini' lessons from a childhood friend. At that point I still thought I completely sucked. And those are probably the best things I did :P. It's also worth noting I actually took an art class at my community college, which probably upped my skill a bit. Yup. I suck with a pencil. And your "magnificence" is pretty much what a good majority of my stuff looked like. The latter two images you saw both took well more than an hour to produce. While the former two probably took maybe 5 minutes. Either way, just slow down, take your time. Some quick tips are to draw 'with your eyes' meaning don't draw what you think you see, but draw what you see. And be generous with the eraser. Digital makes this a lot easier (just press 'undo' :P). Once I got to those after images I'm like 'oh shit', and it sort of clicked that it's not that I can't art, but rather I didn't art. Here's another one I did, which I don't really like: It's all about slowing the fuck down, removing mental barriers of "I can't do this", and generally applying techniques that are used to create specific looks. That, and actually looking at something while you draw. Drawing from your mind is damn hard. As I said, if you're interested in getting better at art, just set aside an hour a day at least to work on it. Perhaps grab one of the art academy games. It takes a lot of time, and a lot of patience. I find it jaw dropping that some people spend well over a dozen hours on a single piece. Getting over that lack of patience is difficult. Especially when you come from a "write a few lines of code and see results." mindset.The first two images are so vastly beyond anything I've even attempted to create that it's not even funny.
don't have the patience to create art because I know how shitty I am at "art things" and attempting it seems like a waste of time and resources. I'm sure if I sat down in a class or with a book, I'd be able to produce something more than a pile of crap, but as of right now, I can't even close my circles when I draw them, so they look like a squished grape or something.
How do you produce original content if you're just copying? Also, how do you possibly draw digitally without one of those fancy pad things? I'd definitely have to see what I wanted to draw, because I can't hold an image in my mind at all. If I concentrate, it just slips out of my "mind's eye" and everything is just blobs. Thanks for the tips. I'll see what I can learn for free before actually throwing money at it. I really would be interested in figuring out how to draw half-decently!Either way, just slow down, take your time. Some quick tips are to draw 'with your eyes' meaning don't draw what you think you see, but draw what you see.
Sure, but I mean specifically looking at a picture and copying it down. My own style is incorporated into the piece, but it's not really mine. It's just my take on someone else's piece. I'm certainly no expert on what would qualify as "art", but I wouldn't be impressed with someone else's version of The Mona Lisa, for example. Someone creating their own Superman comic, while copying the style of Superman, would be creating original content. They'd just be using an established character. I don't know if I explained that clearly, but I hope you understand what I mean. If not, I'm happy to try again!
You just described a lot of fan art. These people you see who make original art almost always start with fan art of some kind. Maybe they were the 10yo drawing perfect Bart Simpson. Today they are the kid on tumblr wowing their favorite webcomic artist with fan art in their own style. Tomorrow they'll have their own story.
Practice :P. You need to be able to draw before you draw and come up with new things at the same time. And generally people have a lot of references and such when they are coming up with new things. Mouse? The latter images I drew on my 3DS. The former were done with a mouse. With no pad/stylus, you definitely have to go a bit slower. But there shouldn't really be a difference. Yup. Draw what you see, get good at that. A lot of artists have done this. Once you start getting the hang of it, then draw new stuff (by drawing a bunch of various references in a particular way :P). Even with something like Anime, they still use a ton of references. Backgrounds? They go around, take a picture, and draw that picture in 'anime' style, adding or removing things as desired. Naturally imaginary/fake stuff is a bit trickier, since you don't have an existing reference. But say you want to draw a robot or alien or something. Find existing ones that are sort of similar to what you want to do. Take your time to get the various characteristics and such. And draw what you see, but put your own spin on it. It's not going to ever be a 1-to-1 copy, and generally you can get a good idea of how to add variety once you get going. Again, liberal use of the eraser is key. Take a pad/pencil, and just pick some random object each day to draw to the best of your ability. Take your time and be sure to capture the shadows/shape/etc. As I mentioned, I personally grabbed Art Academy for the 3DS, which worked wonders. I hear bob ross' videos are good for learning to paint. Patience+Technique+Practice=Good art.How do you produce original content if you're just copying?
Also, how do you possibly draw digitally without one of those fancy pad things?
I'd definitely have to see what I wanted to draw, because I can't hold an image in my mind at all. If I concentrate, it just slips out of my "mind's eye" and everything is just blobs.
Thanks for the tips. I'll see what I can learn for free before actually throwing money at it. I really would be interested in figuring out how to draw half-decently!
Thank you for all the information and suggestions! Please enjoy my drawing for the day.
I've started to work through lessons here http://www.reddit.com/r/artfundamentals What he is doing free of charge is incredible.
Thank you. This looks incredible. Sorry for the late reply, your post didn't show up in my inbox (or whatever it's called) anywhere.
Try learning C++. The fact that it's more low-level will give you a better understanding of computers and programing in general, but it's a much harder language. StackOverflow has a huge list of books on the subject: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/388242/the-definitive-c-book-guide-and-list
It is. Mindfulness meditation has been shown to increase empathy. Beyond that, just make a conscious effort to put yourself in others' shoes. Intentionality goes a long way. I'd also echo Kafke: art, like most things, is about practice more than 'talent.'I'd also like to learn how to empathize better, but I don't know if that's even possible.
Make sure you use Python3, it has less gotchas than Python2 and Python2 is rapidly approaching EOL. If you're using a tutorial intended for Python2, just jiggle it until it works in Python3, you'll even learn more that way. -- Also the new static typing module (part of the standard library in 3.5, but only checked by third-party tools which lets you backport to 3.2 (with limited support for 2.7)) is awesome. I'm currently working on making its error messages better ...
Yep! On Python3 at the moment due to the suggestion of a buddy who is much deeper into the programming world than me. I have no idea what the second part of your message means. I'm still an ultra-noob!
I want to proficiently master the Spanish language. I can understand with pretty good accuracy, but I honestly can't speak it well. That is a pretty easy thing to learn. Something a little harder and more foreign to me would be martial arts, specifically a type of Silat. That would honestly be a dream to be able to learn it.
@Shubhang, I majored in History and focused on East Asian history - even did one of my end of year projects on the Indian Mutiny. I could definitely recommend some reading if you're at all interesting in that part of the world. I want to learn Mandarin, myself. I'll be doing a Masters in Chinese Studies so I really needa get my language skills up to scratch.
Right well, here's just a brief list: Japan: A Brief History of the Samurai by Jonathan Clements
Japan in War and Peace by John Dower
Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney (Heartbreaking) China: China in the 20th Century by Paul Bailey (bit biased because he was my supervisor, but, it is a fantastic general history book) Kay Ann Johnson's Women, the Family, and the Peasant Revolution has a pretty critical view of the CCP's early policies, but her work is slightly dated. Re-Envisioning the Chinese Revolution is a more modern work and goes into the various policies of the CCP and how they were successful but also not.
India: Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy by Ayesha Jalal and Sugata Bose (probably the definitive general history book for modern Indian history, I'd say. Really easy to read, too) Thomas Metcalf's The New Cambridge History of India is really good too, but veeeeeeeery lengthy, to say the least. Alternatively, if you have access to JSTOR, there are plenty of really good articles to be found on any of these subjects. But, if you don't have access to a nearby library and understandably don't want to buy a bunch of books, I'd recommend John Green's CrashCourse World History on Youtube - it gives a pretty good general look at various places in the world and he has a fair few episodes dedicated to various Asian countries.
Given your expertise, what's your opinion on Hardcore History, specifically "The Wrath of The Khans" down at the bottom of the page? They're a fairly long listen, but if you have a commute, it's a nice time to give it a go. I personally found it very interesting, entertaining, and (seemingly) well researched, but I know nothing about that area of the world and its history, so I was curious as to how accurate the information presented is.
Right, well I've just listened to the first episode so far, but I think he's done a pretty good job with it! The show's clearly really well researched and he makes sure to bring in all sorts of differing views (I know the Mongols in particular have a pretty rich historiography surrounding them so this was pretty important). The only thing I don't really agree with him on is his views on revisionist history, as he sort of dismisses it as glazing over a lot of the negative impacts of the Mongols, but I don't think that's quite the case. I'm definitely going to be listening to more of his stuff from now on though, so thanks for the recommendation!
- drums - philosophy - higher level math - Nand2Tetris type programming - electrical engineering / robotics - producing/recording music in an ultra cheap home studio type rig (kleinbl00, I seem to remember that you know about how recording music works, or am I wrong about that?) - programming guitar effects (like Pure Data) - practical music theory (for song writing) - physics (particularly quantum physics and string theory) - meditation (hopefully without the bullshit) - cooking - proper exercising (I run and ride my bike occasionally, but that's probably not sufficient to sustainably get in really good shape) Anyone knowing anything about this stuff have some resources they could share?
No Weight Required Full Body Workout, which, apparently, ought to be enought to keep you in shape if done everyday. Haven't tried it yet. There's also 7 Minute Workout, a "scientific" (meaning "scientifically proven") workout designed for the same purpose. Haven't tried that either, probably won't (sounds too good to be true, like that Soilent thing, and too short for any real exercise), but it's worth to share to see if it will work for you.
I've been practicing meditation while doing Taiji Zhan. It's a…different technique. When your legs are on fire, it's easy to think of only one thing. It helps me to think of the willow. The willow does not move on its own. The willow moves only when the wind moves it. I find Taiji in general is good for clearing my mind. No matter how stressful my day, or how anxious I am about things, the forms take all my concentration, and everything else evaporates. Especially in class with others.
If you want to learn and get an intro to quantum physics I would recommend you:How to teach Quantum Physics to your dog by Chad Orzel He even has his blog String theory well there might be better books but I have only read this For higher level math, read this answer on quora: https://www.quora.com/If-you-had-to-teach-yourself-math-from-basic-algebra-to-high-level-mathematics-what-would-be-your-strategy?srid=pbEj&share=1 Learn electric engineering and robotics by doing projects, you can find ALOT of them online. Just start searching and start doing. No better way of learning than doing
Good luck!
I mostly want to learn artistic skills, like painting and playing instruments. I can tickle some black ink on a canvas and I can rattle out "Good Riddance" on a guitar, but that's about it. But I currently have no time to learn those particular skills, because I've put others as higher priority, like writing and game design. Perhaps if I live forever, I can swap out my current artistry in a few decades with those others. But if we're talking academics, I'd like to be able to learn physics better. I have a layman's understanding, but so many concepts are so mathematical and abstract that I can't wrap my brain around them, or when I can, I can't retain them. I once understood eleven-dimensional string theory, but I lost that knowledge about an hour after I grasped it.
I am a physics major and I think I can help you with your interest in physics!
Do you want a deep complete understanding of physics through maths? Or do you want to skip the math and grasp at the crux of just the physical problems and core concepts? For string theory, very early stages (just to give you a flavour) search- The Complete Idiot's Guide to String Theory by George Musser (You don't need to buy it, there are pdf's available if you are OK with piracy hint hint)
Oh, I can handle the math if I learn it from the ground up, and I'd like to have a mathematical understanding of it. The problem I find is that physics teachings gets split into two kinds: mathless versions that try to explain by analogy and only give vague representations of what's really going on, and technical papers that assume you have a doctorate in physics or math and already know everything. I can never seem to find a middle ground which teaches you the math as it goes (or at least does so well), so ultimately for me to learn physics the way I want, I'd have to go back to school or deeply study it on my own.
Have you read the Feynman Lectures on Physics? They roughly cover a three year university course, but are quite readable and are available for free online here. (I hear that the last one does quantum mechanics in a different way from how it's done now, so it might not be as good a bet as the first two.)
I shall have to give them a looksee. Thanks.
I was, but I'd need a refresher course in Calculus. Since I don't use it in everyday life, I forgot a lot of it.
I want to learn (and am currently learning) programming. So far I've done some C, Python, and Java, but I still haven't mastered anything. I also need to learn shell scripting and git. There's a nice list of free resources for quite a few programming languages here. * Creative writing and technical writing * Cooking * Recording music (I play bass guitar and a bit of electric guitar, but I haven't tried recording them) * Piano (played for 6 years, stopped 7 years ago, forgot how to read sheet music) * Music theory (some good resources I found: musictheory.net, Dave Conservatiore) * Drums * DIY electronics (my major is electrical engineering, so I've already learned the basics; the next step is getting all the materials) * Art * Philosophy * Astrophysics (cool resource that I haven't tried yet: open astrophysics bookshelf) * Theoretical physics * Math
First Course in Linear Algebra (free textbook) Graphical Linear Algebra Circles Sines and Signals (intro to digital signal processing) * Bike and car maintenance
It really depends on what you want to do. If you just want to have the sounds to listen to, then Audacity is the way to go. If you want to do more than that, look at some DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) like Reaper, Logic (Mac Only), Ableton, and Fruity Loops, but keep in mind that they're often expensive. However, if you're wanting something legally free, take a look at LMMS (it has Linux in the name, but runs on everything). Recording music (I play bass guitar and a bit of electric guitar, but I haven't tried recording them)
What about philosophy interests you? I have an old (as in, last year) uni freshman physics textbook I could mail you, if that would be of any help. Unfortunately, all of my lin alg and astrophysics is online! Any gear rental or bike/repair shop should also have beginner maintenance courses. My local MEC has intro to bike maintenance for $10.
I think there are two classes of things I "want to learn." The first are things that I want to learn, and probably will learn, because I enjoy the process. Right now I'm learning about various aspects of web development, and I'm chugging along with that in the context of ruby/rails and angular/javascript. The second class of things I want to learn are probably more, "things I wish I knew," because I don't particularly enjoy the process, so it's a lot harder to keep making progress. This class of things includes learning piano and the french language. I'm not sure when or even if I'll find the motivation for the second class of things, but I suspect it will come after I land a development job and I have more time to focus on non-programming subjects.
-Programming -advanced electric/electronic engineering -Another language. Not sure which, but I want to be trilingual. -A lot of other things that I can't put my finger on right now -How to draw
If you'd like to pick up on Russian, I'll be glad to get you up to speed. For programming, there's a website linking to hundreds of resources for many-many languages, most of which I can't recognize: Become a Programmer, Motherfucker. Did you know that you can write desktop applications with Javascript?
Thanks for the offer, I'll consider it in my spare time (and thanks for the link, I'll investigate) As for Javascript - yes, I know, but I think I remember a metaphor for it said by someone: it's like converting a treadmill into a commuting vehicle. Sure it works, but there's better ways to do it.
Hell - technically, nowadays you most likely could be able to code down applications/games in HTML5 and run them as a native application with some sort of Webview wrapper or HTML parser (which would effectively be a single-website web browser)
Not any material, no - only an explanation. You've seen what HTML5 is capable of, yes? Movies, games, advanced almost-app-like websites. Now most likely, if you were to take Chromium's webpage-rendering code, add execution code and make it point to a folder/website, most likely it would load and run that HTML5 code with no superfluous feature - if it's not in the page, it's not there. Sorta how, in the past, you could package Shockwave Flash (SWF) files into executables, except you have to write the execution software yourself instead of relying on Adobe's code.
(And now my crazy self is thinking about making an HTML5 web browser from that tech...) Yeah I'm def going to learn to code just to see if this is possible.
How to really talk to people. I'm ok with small talk... It's really all I need for my job. People don't want to get into deep conversation with FOH staff... (That's the barrista's job!) I find it incredibly difficult to have meaningful conversations with people. At least in person. Give me a laptop and plenty of time to carve out a decent answer and I'm golden. I suppose it just takes practice. But it's something I desperately want to learn!
I am the kind of person that goes on wikipedia binges for entertainment so that is usually what I do when I'm curious about a subject. But I want to speak french. I can speak a bit of it and I do it on duolingo when I get the urge but I would really like to speak french fluently. I would like to draw/paint better. I like doing it but I don't do it enough or practice it these days. I would like to go a creative writing course. I really, really like writing and I am quite good at it. (I had a wonderful high school teacher in Swedish who really encouraged me. She made the 12 year olds write crime novels every year.) I don't do creative writing in school anymore because IB does literary analys which is super fun but also not creative writing. I'd like to learn to play piano. I can play a bit and so, but I'd like to learn to play it properly and well. I'd like to learn to sing properly. I like singing and learning theory and to read notes feels like it would be hugely rewarding.
Those are mutually exclusive, unless you aim for speaking French after you're ninety. The truth is, either you get the work done, or it isn't getting any doner. The best way to go is immersion. Move to France; if not possible, find as many French books, newspapers, podcasts and songs as you can lay hands on and start reading and listening (just to get some grasp on verbal syntax - your subconscious will do it for you for now, just read and listen), find people who speak French and would like to learn Swedish (there are some resources online for that: /r/languageexchange on Reddit and GoVoluble) and speak French with them everyday, no matter how broken it is and how stupid it feels. In a year or two, if university programs are any indication, you'd be able to communicate more or less freely.and I do it on duolingo when I get the urge but I would really like to speak french fluently.
I realize that I was kinda rude, I'll try again - I don't mind having to wait until 90. It'll give me something to do to to keep my mind alert.
I don't care that much if I'm honest. Knowing a few french words is enough for me.
I will propose that we start doing this. Thanks for the inspiration.I would like to draw/paint better. I like doing it but I don't do it enough or practice it these days.
me too. I think so much if it depends on having the materials available and set up. I think it would be fun to paint with my wife. She's a pretty good artist and doesn't do it enough.
Yeah, I'm going in a shopping binge at an artstore with my birthday money/students allowance/salary from the daycare center. I've already done the "hair stuff" shopping binge. I've now actually got a proper comb.
A widely applicable programming language, handyman skills like carpenting or whatever, drums.
I want to learn how to play my instruments to where I can play them as well as I can whistle. I want to learn how to make apps. I want to learn how to get a larger audience for the site that I write for. I want to learn how to invest in different things that I believe in.
- Optimization and linear algebra. Super useful for my work. - German and Hebrew. Germany and Israel are the two non-Anglophone countries I spend the most time in, and I'm looking to spend a lot more time in both (when I move to Europe in about a month). I'm kind of embarrassed by how utterly monolingual I currently am. I half-assedly started German on duolingo, and Hebrew is coming to the platform soon as well. - Accordion. I've mentioned it before, but what an awesome instrument! I can be my own band! :) - Driving. I'm too old not to have a driver's license. I've been holding out for self-driving cars, but I'll get sick of my limits about visiting wilderness and countryside well before those regulatory hurdles are defeated. - Yoga. Every time I've attended a yoga class I've come out with good posture for about a day. My problem is that yoga is hella boring! It's not like martial arts, which I find really fun. I really need it, though, because I don't really know how to move or hold my body right now.
— Languages. I'm looking to learn Norwegian (Bokmål, using Duolingo for the task), German (upcoming with university), French, Japanese, Romanian (inspired by Zdob shi Zdub). Also, I'd like to take a look at the grammar and syntax of Arabic and Hebrew, and make something about the Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs as a payment of respect to my childhood dream. — Music and signing. I believe myself to sing fairly good for an untrained amateur, and I'd like to learn the processes of making my own music one day, because music to my ears is as sweet as honey to my tongue, and to be able to take part in an artistic miracle would be a divine experience. — Doing things manually. I prefer many things digitally - including writing - but there's some aura of glory to making things by hand. I'd like to learn how to make bows out of wood and to carve wood sticks into figurines and such things. I'd like to learn how to make details for and assemble a bookshelf - and, perhaps, others items of furniture. This venue of learning includes electrical engineering, too: there's some magical feeling of making a thing by hand which, at the same time, has to do with electronics - for a technology geek like me, at least. — Doing things digitally. Programming and such. I'd like to learn how to make desktop applications, preferably using Javascript, for it's the only language i know at the moment; if there are easy courses for C or similarly traditionally desktop-app languages like there is Codecademy for JS, I'd appreciate link to those. There's similar aura to programming as there is to building things by hand. — Managing personal finances. Growing up, I never had access to much personal money, and every ruble I came in possession of most often went to sweets and sweetened drinks. Now, at 20 years of age, I have barely any skills in the area, and knowing it makes me uncomfortable. — Managing personal issues. Fears and anxiety, confidence and trust, empathy and healthy altruism... and how to act, in general ("personal boundries", perhaps?). For example, I'm not certain whether it's best to leave the topic here as it is (even though they're a subject for a separate post, because I'd like to be open and trusting of people) or to leave it out (because it might make me appear needy and overly open to someone who doesn't know me and doesn't care for my troubles that they're no part of). Maybe I'm getting it all wrong, or even backwards; I have no idea.
I've always wanted to learn programming and Linux. I've been programming in multiple languages for probably 4 years now. Last year in school, I took AP Computer Science and it made me feel like a boss at programming. I went in there already knowing Java pretty well, so, combined with the fact that I was teaching myself (as in, skimming PowerPoints, because I wasn't in an "official" class), I was always ahead of the rest of my classmates. They'd be working on something until Friday, and I would have it done Tuesday or Wednesday. When I was constrained within the already installed libraries, I felt like I could actually program. However, when I left my comfort zone, I was completely lost. I don't know how to make an Android app. I look at the tutorials and it's Brainfuck to me. I look at how to solve a task, and there's people suggestions on Stack Overflow where I maybe understand a few words that they're saying. I spent so much of my time basically sitting inside these stupid easy libraries and environments (Pygame, native stuff, PRAW), that I don't feel like I "know" how to program. I know how to do some basic things, but if I try to make anything worth while, I don't even know where to begin. I feel the same way with Linux. I'll go to fix a problem, and the solution looks like the guy took some keywords and then just started bashing his face against the keyboard. On top of that, they know this stuff off the top of their head. Like, "Oh, you're getting this error? You're missing this library. Install it with 'sudo apt-get install lksdkljdfs', then run this, this, this, and this command to get it working." Like, I understand what the terminal does. I understand some of the basic stuff, but anything else is like putting a kid studying multiplication tables in an accelerated calculus course. So, I guess I want to learn more than the basics of Linux and programming. I want to be one of those dudes that can just pull a really complex solution out of his ass like it was adding 2 and 2 to get 5.
Macedonian - Working on Cyrillic right now to start. DIY stuff - need to learn more about electronics in general. Literature - Need to up my reading game. A lot of the classics are too hard for me but I'm not going to improve if I only read trashy scifi forever. Assembly - for work. Need to brush up, it's been a long time.
I never really got into my own culture, and because of that, lack the linguistics of that culture. Right now I speak english,spanish, and urdu(native to pakistan) but im currently learning two more languages which are more geo-specific. Besides that I'm really getting into Information systems, backtrack/kali, and coding in general, so I have a lot to digest everyday lol Also gotta freshen up on ny math for these placement tests in college which is a total drag
You don't get to "learn to love", I'm afraid. If you're fine with it from the beginning, you'll be able to turn it into a job and go for a few months or years, but if it isn't yours, you better find what is. Nothing's worse than being sick of what you do.I'd like to learn how to love an activity enough to be able to stick with it for more than a few months/years.
I'm moving to Montreal in a month so I would love to learn French before I go. So far I've been taking a stab at Duolingo, but learning a new language is hard! And this is coming from someone who already knows two. I'd also love to learn more about European history. I learned US history and I know it very well, but European history is a gaping hole in my education s of now.
It's a big city so it really depends on your interests. If you're a foodie there are lots of cool restaurants all around. You ll probably to the classic Montreal stuff like eat the bagels and smoked meat and walk up the Mount Royal within your first week or so and then it's just a matter of finding your favorite spots in the city. Let me know what you like and I might have some suggestions :)
I'd like to learn carpentry, electrician's stuff, plumbing, welding, and whatever other skills would be necessary to build small homes for people on the move, people in need who can't afford much, or people who want to live with a small footprint.
Music. Singing/voice, instruments, sequencers, digital music editing, etc. Seems like such a fun skill to have. Actually... all of the arts. I've never been an 'arts' kinda person. Mostly just tech/science/math for me. It's nice to get into more creative stuff.
Personally, I'd like to learn programming. (Which luckily for me, I go off to college in a few weeks and start my first programming class right off the bat.) Along with that, it'd be my dream to learn (or try to) Japanese. Other than that, I'd like to get a bit into philosophy, and potentially some law. I would also love to get better at drawing/painting, but unfortunately just about anything I try to draw comes out as utter garbage.
Become a Programmer, Motherfucker. For Japanese, Memrise is where I started. I also have PDF of kanji sheets (to train your handwritten kanji); I have no idea where I got those from - repeated search turned out nothing - but I can send those to you using a file-sharing platform.
I'm afraid I made a mistake referring to hiragana sheets as kanji sheets. I haven't been up with Japanese for quite a while, and my washed-out knowledge shows it. If you're still interested, you can view and download them at Google Drive. As for Memrise, I started the most basic Japanese course I could find, correlating with my knowledge of the language. I'm afraid I can't guide you any further, for I didn't go there for now.
I would like to continue to learn the Chinese written language (simplified). Being somewhat independent of the spoken language, the symbolic puzzle of it intrigues me. It is hugely rewarding to read a Chinese bag of coffee and realize it translates to "good to the last drop."
To cross post a bit I really want to develop my guitar playing so that I can go from 'modest talent for chords' to a path that will eventually lead to some real mastery of the instrument.