Do you prefer trying it on your own until you get “a feel for it”, and then having an expert instructor show you the fine points?
Or do you prefer first getting detailed instructions and guidance, and then experimenting on your own?
Or do you prefer another method?
I’m thinking of physical skills like skiing, golf, or ballroom dancing, as well as things like playing bridge or backgammon.
I’ve noticed that there are at least two types of people when it comes to a preferred method of being taught a new skill, and how to go about improving that skill. I guess that it’s more of a continuum, with the two extremes being:
Learn it all on your own and never have an instructor
or
Have an instructor teach you everything and never try to learn on your own.
Pretty much this. When I learned to sew, for example, I took a beginner’s class so that I could get a good foundation in the basics of how to read a pattern, sew a straight stitch, and so forth. Then I ventured out on my own for a while and taught myself some new skills, i.e. attaching sleeves, inserting a zipper, etc. Now I wouldn’t mind going back for a more advanced class to help me out with the finer points that I’m probably missing on my own.
Give me some pointers, and let me learn by doing and screwing up. For me to truly learn a skill well, it’s a give-and-take between learning by doing, and then by receiving honest and direct criticism. Please don’t beat around the bush. So, in general, I don’t want detailed instructions to start with. I want to play around a bit, but I do want a gradual and constant stream of pointers as I go along.
This is my preference exactly. Explain the big picture, show me a few basics, then remain available for (patiently) answering my questions as I work things out for myself.
It depends. For me, the dividing line is what the possible ramifications are. Most arts and crafts, programming or trying out a new application (I’m working on Sketchup and Open Office Base right now) I like to screw around and get a feel for it.
Things like snowboarding, arc welding or glassblowing, definitely take a lesson first. My friend has only tried snowboarding once. He had a group lesson in the afternoon, but thought he’d screw around and try to get a feel for it beforehand. He got so beat up in the morning that he was too sore and intimidated to take the lesson in the afternoon. I took a lesson, and although still very lame at it, can sort of snowboard.
I will try to learn things on my own if they are similar to things I’ve done previously, or if they seem straightforward, but when it’s something very new, or potentially dangerous(glass working, woodworking) I like to be taught. I learn better and faster on average by being shown the basics at least.
Mr. McQ learns everything from painting to languages from books. He can’t stand being taught.
If the skill is something that is enjoyable even at a beginner level (most sports like tennis or volleyball), then I prefer a hands on approach right from the start. However, skills like playing a guitar are not fun at all unless I have been taught the basics.
I LOVE kitemaking, and though I can pretty much make any kite from a plan, (say in a kite book), I also LOVE a hands-on experience building my kites with other people, as in a kitemaking class. For me, thats the best way for me to learn how to make a kite from a new design.
Every year, (around the second week of March), I like to go to the Fort Worden Kitemakers Conference, in Port Townsend, Washington. There, kitemakers from all over the world show their skills and new designs for kites, and what’s fun is getting a new kite and learning how to make it at the same time.
I have an old Pfaff sewing machine, and together we’ve made lots and lots of kites!
So for me, hands-on, on-the-job-training works best. (At least its more fun that way.)
Now that I’m an old fart I realise that it depends entirely on the nature of the skill you are learning. Most things in my life I have just given a go and learned as I went along, somnetimes getting a bit of expert advice as time goes by. This has ended up in mixed results.
I love cooking and by popular acclaim I am pretty good and am entirely self taught.
I love playing golf and am pretty mediocre and have so many ingrained bad habits that it would take a major effort to unlearn them. My younger brother who is a good golfer has told me that a few lessons when I started playing would have resulted in me being much better.
I started playing tennis as an adult with mates who were experienced players. I was useless and couldn’t really make a useful contribution so I started having a weekly lesson. The lesson was harder work than hours of playing and I loved it and kept on going even when I stopped improving much but it didn’t take me long to become quite competent. Without the lessons I would have given up but every other sport I have played - rugby, soccer, cricket, baseball, athletics I have just picked up. When I swam competitions as a kid I had daily training because that is how the club system works.
I learned to play chess with friends while young and never really made any effort to advance beyond social games. I started attending free night classes run by WEA just to kill time while waiting for my wife who worked nearby. They were taught by an IM who used to end each night by playing everyone in the class. I improved my game massively due to the teacher and the training methods he got me interested in. I soon got to the unhappy position of being a not particularly good player but able to crush my social opponents like grapes. Had I been that good when a fair bit younger I’m sure I would have at least tried playing competitively.
I am currently having guitar lessons after decades of half-hearted playing and if nothing else the presence of a teacher has at least made me wholehearted and confident.
I learned bridge this year in a night class and that is definitely the way to go for a mental skill like that IMHO. I mean you get involved playing right away, but you’re playing according to a set or rote methods that you don’t understand at the beginning. e.g. Lead 4th highest from your longest and strongest sequence. Why? Don’t worry about it, just do it.
Once you learn the ropes the ‘rules’ make sense and you can see the concepts behind them, if I keep playing the next stage will be to start to alter / lose the rules and play at a deeper level.
Anecdotally, our bridge teacher had a strange mix of truly awful and extremely effective teaching methods. He just was not interested in teaching anyone who was slow on the uptake - very cutting about people’s mistakes. His attitude was like if he had 20 people in the class and 2 of them are quick learners who have the potential to play good bridge, then the quicker the other 18 fuck off the better. Great if you were one of the chosen, as he was a fantastic communicator for bridge.