A heck of a good way to learn something is to try to make something with it
Project-based learning is what it sounds like - learning something by trying to make a project out of it. This can be applied very broadly. It has massive benefit over what would be more ‘theory’-based learning, or stuff you learn in lectures. The homework is more important to learning that is the lecture.
If you’re making something for the sake of learning how, it could be said to be An End to Your Means.
Even better if you aspire to complete something that’s beyond the level you actually want to achieve in the thing. An example would be going for the highest-level language test, when all you really want is to be conversational. If you can achieve the highest level aptitude, even if just barely, you’re definitely conversational.
Examples
- Don’t study code. Make a project that stretches your coding ability.
- To become a better chef, you could make a project that you want to create a 4-course meal in 30 minutes starting from raw ingredients.
- Aim to write a Gillespedia article about a topic, rather than just passively studying it.
- Dang backed my way into success on this one ☝️
- Don’t just write notes about Cocktails, make some!