Your Self-Taught Subjects/Skills

[Debater Slayer]

Yet another everyday thread! I know, I know... I'm going crazy thinking everyday stuff matters too, right?

When I was about 10-11 years old, my mom taught me how to use the dictionary because I had always asked my older brother to read and translate explanations of video game cheats for me. Since then, I've had a literal OCD for looking up almost any and all new words I come across. This has also extended to rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Basically, English is by far my most self-taught subject. What I learned from school represents 10% or less of what I know about the English language today.

I've also read a significant amount of articles about psychology, psychiatry, and computer hardware. Reading about the first two was initially because I wanted to know exactly what I had when I realized my OCD wasn't a normal condition when I was 13, and then the reading became a hobby afterward. Computer hardware has been an interest of mine since I was 13 as well, due to my love of video games and amazement by good graphics in games.

What about you? What are your self-taught subjects and/or skills?

 

[Quetzal]

What about you? What are your self-taught subjects and/or skills?

Recently I have been learning about chess. There are a lot of high-level players on Twitch, which is helpful because they share their thought processes and insight.

 

[Vee]

Yet another everyday thread! I know, I know... I'm going crazy thinking everyday stuff matters too, right?

When I was about 10-11 years old, my mom taught me how to use the dictionary because I had always asked my older brother to read and translate explanations of video game cheats for me. Since then, I've had a literal OCD for looking up almost any and all new words I come across. This has also extended to rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Basically, English is by far my most self-taught subject. What I learned from school represents 10% or less of what I know about the English language today.

I've also read a significant amount of articles about psychology, psychiatry, and computer hardware. Reading about the first two was initially because I wanted to know exactly what I had when I realized my OCD wasn't a normal condition when I was 13, and then the reading became a hobby afterward. Computer hardware has been an interest of mine since I was 13 as well, due to my love of video games and amazement by good graphics in games.

What about you? What are your self-taught subjects and/or skills?

One of the things I mostly thought myself and today is one of my biggest passions was cooking. My poor mom tried to teach me some basic kitchen skills when I was a teenager but at that time I couldn't be less interested. I was almost thirty when I started trying recipes and getting into cooking and today I just love it. can't get enough of trying new recipes and I invite people over frequently to share them with me.

 

[Debater Slayer]

One of the things I mostly thought myself and today is one of my biggest passions was cooking. My poor mom tried to teach me some basic kitchen skills when I was a teenager but at that time I couldn't be less interested. I was almost thirty when I started trying recipes and getting into cooking and today I just love it. can't get enough of trying new recipes and I invite people over frequently to share them with me.

As a Frenchwoman, do you make ratatouille on your own, or is there a smart and cute rat hiding beneath your chef's hat and commanding you for each recipe?

 

[JustGeorge]

One of the things I mostly thought myself and today is one of my biggest passions was cooking. My poor mom tried to teach me some basic kitchen skills when I was a teenager but at that time I couldn't be less interested. I was almost thirty when I started trying recipes and getting into cooking and today I just love it. can't get enough of trying new recipes and I invite people over frequently to share them with me.

I got lucky. When I went vegetarian at 12, my mom refused to cook for me, in hopes to deter me. I learned to cook young, and I still love it. It was the best thing she ever did for me.

Though growing up vegetarian Midwestern USA got boring... so I became more concerned with what other people were eating in the world... I've learned a lot about international cuisine this way.

 

[Vee]

As a Frenchwoman, do you make ratatouille on your own, or is there a smart and cute rat hiding beneath your chef's hat and commanding you for each recipe?

I make it myself, but I know some people who cheat. They don't have a smart, cute mousse hiding somewhere, but they buy it already made in the supermarket. As a foodie I find that insulting

 

[Vinayaka]

I taught myself how to juggle 3 balls. I used commonsense Math, and timing.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I self-taught myself to play the piano. At one time I could read basic sheet music (not the Mozart kind) fluently like reading a book. I love music but for some reason I don't have the discipline to do what I love. Same with writing-though-I feel is a bit harder than sheet music. I would like to write a novel; but, the project is so big it would take me over couple years to finish it.

 

[Sunstone]

Self taught subjects? I had some tutoring in painting when I was in single digits, so I can't claim to be wholly self taught there. Same as writing, I guess. The usual public school stuff. But I composed my first poem in my mid-thirties. At the time I had been taught so little about poetry, I had to call up a former professor, read it to him, and ask if it qualified. I honestly didn't know.

I can't recall much of it now. I don't always keep paintings, writings, or even poems for long, but I think it began this way...

I lie awake into the heart of a soft summer night
listening to the drumming of the cicada shove life forward
and remembering once a woman passed this way,
on the drumming of a generation long dead,
into silence, and became no more.

 

[Orbit]

Musically, I taught myself how to play guitar, bass, and drums and have played bass professionally in the past (80s and 90s).

 

[Onoma]

Well, in addition to what I posted in the other thread, one of my main interests in life has been in animal intelligence and communication / interspecies communication, technically known as " bioacoustics "

I have extensive experience with parrots like African Greys ( Mom used to breed parrots as a hobby, so home had many ), but have worked with many birds

About 10 years ago I built a blind box into my office window to study the behaviors and communication of wild corvids like jays, and also common gray squirrels, ended up having a ton of really great relationships with them and learning quite a bit about their world and how intelligent they really are ( When they aren't in their normal fight or flight mode )

Here's a picture of one squirrel I befriended and allowed into my house so I could further gain insight to how they live and behave / communicate

The reason I am holding her tail is that I used to brush it for her while she sat on my desk eating seeds, but had to put the brush down to grab the camera to snap the pic ( Grooming is a way to strengthen the friendship bond )

At this point I've worked with the local squirrels so much they've brought their kids to meet me and they've imprinted on me as a surrogate parental type

One of the most interesting behaviors I've observed over the years, from both jays and squirrels, is that they will bring me empty nut hulls or shells to ask for food. I've always been impressed by this ability to use logic to solve a problem, and it was only teased out of them when I stopped putting food out like a buffet and just sat there with a dumb look on my face ( To see what would happen )

I will probably take my notes and write a short book about my experiences with the squirrels

I also played music for years, self-taught by ear, mainly guitar ( Blues, jazz, rock, etc ) but also some bass, some percussion. Haven't played in a few years now because of some lingering stress fractures in a few fingers, but might pick it up again in the future

I spend some of my time writing about my discoveries pertaining to mathematical astronomy and astrometry as practiced by Mesopotamian and Egyptian priests, and how these things influenced the Bible, so I spend time learning about cuneiform and Egyptian scripts ( Mainly )

Aside from that, I'll generally read / study anything really

 

[Vinayaka]

Self taught subjects? I had some tutoring in painting when I was in single digits, so I can't claim to be wholly self taught there. Same as writing, I guess. The usual public school stuff. But I composed my first poem in my mid-thirties. At the time I had been taught so little about poetry, I had to call up a former professor, read it to him, and ask if it qualified. I honestly didn't know.

I can't recall much of it now. I don't always keep paintings, writings, or even poems for long, but I think it began this way...

I lie awake into the heart of a soft summer night
listening to the drumming of the cicada shove life forward
and remembering once a woman passed this way,
on the drumming of a generation long dead,
into silence, and became no more.

My grade 2 teacher told me I had a great imagination. I hated writing throughout high school, and university, although I could do it if pushed. My enthusiasm for it increased a lot when I started writing alongside my students. It was the old role-modelling technique, and is recommended by many educational theorists. I taught a few brilliant kids along the way, and told my own kids crazy imaginative bedtime stories we'd make up together. One of those 'get around to it someday' novels is based on such a story that continued for several years at every bedtime.

 

[ChristineM]

I'm dyslexic which wasn't diagnosed until i was 14 which made me the ineducable misfit in school. Following diagnosis and remedial eye glasses being prescribed that red blur that smeared across the page turned into letters. I taught myself to read, first letters, then words, then whole sentences... And then within 4 months tackling my first book "The Colour of Magic" by Terry Pratchett. Reading was an epiphany and instilled a lifelong love of his work and books in general... The second book i read was the KJV bible.

I am most certainly not up to the standard of the average person who has 10 years reading advantage and i still find walls of text a nightmare but by age 18 i was able to attend college and then university, albeit with the aid of assistance.

Also, just about anything else important that i should have learned in school that i needed to function in the big wide world.

Then we have cosmology and anthropology which have both become hobbies.

Even though i say so myself I've learned how to be a pretty good mother and i am quite handy with a chainsaw.

 

[PureX]

Building things and fixing things. I've always liked doing this since I was just a kid.

Over the years I have designed, built, and installed custom kitchen cabinets. Gutted and remodeled whole residential structures. Installed heating systems, replaced and installed new plumbing and updated electrical systems. I've installed bathrooms and laundries and kitchens where there were none. I've dug up floors and replaced sewer drains. I've cut open roofs and installed dormers.

I've also built theatrical sets for plays, displays for large product conventions, party sets (western towns and so on) for corporate gatherings, and models for films. I built a small children's theater with seating and a projection booth. And today I re-mounted an x-ray machine with a swing-arm base unit in a dental operatory that had come off the wall.

I have also designed and built all kinds of custom crates, containers, and contraptions for installing, uninstallng, moving, and storing fine art, antiques, and museum artifacts. I've designed and made crates for classic motorcycles (yep, the 'Easy Rider' bike, too), dinosaurs, multi-million dollar paintings and sculptures, and a massive collection of famous movie artifacts.

I have a masters degree in fine art, but contrary to popular misconception, this involved very little training in the use of tools or mechanical skills. These I learned pretty much on my own. Art school taught me some basic drawing and visual skills, but mostly it was focused on art history, the creative thought process, visual perception, criticism, and ideation. I have built and sold many sculptures over the years but this was not a 'self-taught' skill set. All this other stuff I learned how to do basically to pay the bills while being an artist.

 

[exchemist]

Yet another everyday thread! I know, I know... I'm going crazy thinking everyday stuff matters too, right?

When I was about 10-11 years old, my mom taught me how to use the dictionary because I had always asked my older brother to read and translate explanations of video game cheats for me. Since then, I've had a literal OCD for looking up almost any and all new words I come across. This has also extended to rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Basically, English is by far my most self-taught subject. What I learned from school represents 10% or less of what I know about the English language today.

I've also read a significant amount of articles about psychology, psychiatry, and computer hardware. Reading about the first two was initially because I wanted to know exactly what I had when I realized my OCD wasn't a normal condition when I was 13, and then the reading became a hobby afterward. Computer hardware has been an interest of mine since I was 13 as well, due to my love of video games and amazement by good graphics in games.

What about you? What are your self-taught subjects and/or skills?

Singing, I suppose. Everything else, including sport (rowing) was taught to me. But I have taught myself to read music, though I wouldn't claim to be a fluent sight-singer. When I was in The Hague, and attending the sung mass in Latin because I didn't understand Dutch, the church had hymn books with the Gregorian chants in the back, in neumes. So by joining in every Sunday, I taught myself to read neumes, too.

I suppose, too I've taught myself to cook, though it's a pretty poor chemist that can't read and execute a recipe. But one learns there are certain underlying principles and combinations, which help when one goes off-piste.

 

[sun rise]

Thinking back, just about everything I learned I had help with at least a little.

Playing chess and bridge were mostly self-taught.

But the most important learning was how to do internet searches for hard to find things.

 

[Mock Turtle]

Like many, I basically taught myself to play chess, and probably only improved significantly by reading at least one decent book on the subject (by James Mason, and presumably not the actor), but I just didn't play enough to improve that much. I taught myself to program as well, with some driven by work requirements. Other things - taught myself how to use a worldwide radio receiver (programmed from my earliest computer so as to record stuff at awkward hours). Also, how to sail a racing dinghy (and race it) before moving on to sailing yachts - where I did then go in for some taught navigation and associated stuff. Most of my outdoor activities - caving, rock-climbing, mountaineering - was probably a mixture of learning from those more experienced and some reading. Not a lot happening at the moment though.

 

[ADigitalArtist]

All of my 3d art via Blender, Zbrush, Maya and Keyshot was self taught.
So things like this RPG campaign cover.

 

[Revoltingest]

I learned....
Computer & operating system maintenance.
Gardening
Locksmithing
Woodworking
Metalworking
Rigging (machinery)
Writing really offensive limericks.

 

[SomeRandom]

Yet another everyday thread! I know, I know... I'm going crazy thinking everyday stuff matters too, right?

When I was about 10-11 years old, my mom taught me how to use the dictionary because I had always asked my older brother to read and translate explanations of video game cheats for me. Since then, I've had a literal OCD for looking up almost any and all new words I come across. This has also extended to rules of grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

Basically, English is by far my most self-taught subject. What I learned from school represents 10% or less of what I know about the English language today.

I've also read a significant amount of articles about psychology, psychiatry, and computer hardware. Reading about the first two was initially because I wanted to know exactly what I had when I realized my OCD wasn't a normal condition when I was 13, and then the reading became a hobby afterward. Computer hardware has been an interest of mine since I was 13 as well, due to my love of video games and amazement by good graphics in games.

What about you? What are your self-taught subjects and/or skills?

Weirdly enough mine is very similar to yours. When I was about 7 years old-ish (which here is grade 2) I discovered the thesaurus function on Word Processor. I also discovered much to my delight that by using said function I increased my chances of passing English just by default. Because of the way English is taught, reading levels have to take into account how varied one’s vocabulary is.
(Granted sometimes it got me the occasional accusation of plagiarism until I demonstrated that I did in fact “know” my vocabulary.)
Couple this with my older cousin being a literal English teacher constantly trying to get me to question everything I was reading, I had a pretty interesting time with English as a subject. I was essentially practicing literary critique (or at least what passes for literary critique in primary/high school) with my family as a kid. So when it came to reading assigned books in class, I just did it without really thinking.

I also noticed that I now do it for all types of media I consume. When I played red dead redemption 2, for example, I couldn’t help but notice the political implications of the storytelling. How you play as someone who is dreaming (albeit somewhat cynically) of a better more fair future. How your character views society as a failure, because they’ve shunned you and your gang. How you’ve found a sense of comrade and family within your gang. And when it falls apart, it’s various factors both inside and out. You could read a lot into just that aspect alone, if you wanted to, I mean.
I know that seems rather easy to do. For some reason gamers seem averse to “reading” games.