NationStates Jolt Archive

Ok, I haven't actually done the latter, and I will be the former at some point. But what I actually want to know is...what skills do you possess that you have learned on your own, or in an informal setting? No degrees/certificates/formal training allowed...what skills have you managed to just pick up along the way? This can include things other people have taught you as long as it was in an informal setting.

Growing vegetables and such.

Being mad cool.

I can hunt, big game and small. I know how to snare rabbits, grouse and other small critters. I can butcher an animal, I can dry and smoke meat. I can sing and play guitar. For some reason, I taught myself calligraphy when I was younger and I'm still rather fond of it. I interview well. I cut a mean rug...cumbias, merengues, reggaeton or what have you. I'm a good story-teller (in the actual telling a story sense, not in the lying sense).

I can hunt, big game and small. I know how to snare rabbits, grouse and other small critters. I can butcher an animal, I can dry and smoke meat. I can sing and play guitar. For some reason, I taught myself calligraphy when I was younger and I'm still rather fond of it. I interview well. I cut a mean rug...cumbias, merengues, reggaeton or what have you. I'm a good story-teller (in the actual telling a story sense, not in the lying sense).

I just learned how to fill a cup with my own tears of shame.

CPR/First Aid certified AND I know sign language. So if there's a deaf person drowning, you can bet your ass I'll be able to save them.

Also, I can cha-cha quite well, and I'm not bad at rumba and swing.

Piano, guitar, a little banjo. Gardening, unless you count the instructions on the back of the seed packets. :p Woodcarving. Whistling. Foreign languages other than Spanish (I can blame my high school for some of that). Marksmanship. Penmanship (it's an art - really!). Other stuff, probably.

I just learned how to fill a cup with my own tears of shame.

Bah I'm sure there are plenty of other things you can do you're just not thinking of them.

CPR/First Aid certified AND I know sign language. So if there's a deaf person drowning, you can bet your ass I'll be able to save them.

Goddamn it, today is such a siggable day!

I can hunt, big game and small. I know how to snare rabbits, grouse and other small critters. I can butcher an animal, I can dry and smoke meat. I can sing and play guitar. For some reason, I taught myself calligraphy when I was younger and I'm still rather fond of it. I interview well. I cut a mean rug...cumbias, merengues, reggaeton or what have you. I'm a good story-teller (in the actual telling a story sense, not in the lying sense).

You learned to butcher animals by trial and error? Damn. :p Even with instruction, it took me a while to get good, esp. with chickens for some reason. Trapping without any prefab materials is an impressive skill, I must say. Neat. :)

Edit: ooh, "informal settings" count. My fault. My list would look different too.

Nearly every art skill I have I've taught myself.

Other than that, I have no skills XP

Bah I'm sure there are plenty of other things you can do you're just not thinking of them.

Hrm.. I can start a fire relatively well with flint and steel, or a magnifying lens.. haven't mastered the firebow method. In theory, I know how to string and fire a bow which I can also do in practice, but not with any resounding success at accuracy. I've been teaching myself to play the harmonica.. I write poetry once and a while.(this is definitely not a taught skill since ideas will strike me almost at random)

*thinks*

Goddamn it, today is such a siggable day!

Awesome, I'm now in two people's sigs. Only several thousand to go.

I learned how to pick locks from Richard Feynman.

You learned to butcher animals by trial and error? Damn. :p Even with instruction, it took me a while to get good, esp. with chickens for some reason. Trapping without any prefab materials is an impressive skill, I must say. Neat. :)
Danke. I credit my uncles. I had sort of not payed attention to butchering though, so when I finally had to do it myself I was a little freaked. But I'd cut up enough chickens for cooking that I had a general idea of the principles involved, and it went fairly well.

I learned how to pick locks from Richard Feynman.

Oooh! Nefarious skills! I can pick simple locks...I used to be better at it, I've gotten rusty. I was good at opening locked windows, and I could crawl into very small spaces to get into places I shouldn't be. I was also good at getting away from people who didn't want me to be in places I shouldn't be. I learned to fight dirty, and I rarely lost. I can also construct a pipe out of anything :D

The Japanese language.

Watashi wa nihongo hanamasu

I learned how to pick locks from Richard Feynman.

This is the one skill I'd like to learn but haven't, I tried, you can download instructions, or go to howstuffworks.com or something like that and I spent hours with a hair pins and a cheap lock but just couldn't get the knack.

I have learned to open a car door with a coathanger though, not these modern cars with the lock in the side of the seat but the old-fashioned ones.

Not that it's ever come in use.

Hmmm, informal learning? Skills based? Graphics and structural design, with an odd dabbling in storyboarding.

I learned how to pick locks from Richard Feynman.

I learned that from Splinter Cell.

Video/Sound production and editing, html, php, a lil bit of java, a lil bit of C+/++ a lil bit of visual basic...

Appart from the first bit, boring really

I are High School Student.

I are High School Student.

As are me.

At some point I should actually go and see if I can still pick locks. I know the how, but it's been years since I've even had the chance to try it out.

Edit: Ah, just remembered. It wasn't lockpicking. It was cracking the combination on combination locks by trial and error. I had tested it with a padlock I knew the combination to, and I could hear the little clicks.

I learned how to play guitar on my own. Also taught myself with books and interaction conversational Spanish. Wasn't a big leap from English and French though.

Does it count that I taught myself to swim and ride a bike as a kid? :p

I also have a talent for thinking completely out of the box. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal but I have used it to my advantage so many times that I lost count. I have also found that thinking out of the box and with my fraud training in insurance I could easily become a criminal mastermind. However I have no plans to. ;)

I just learned how to fill a cup with my own tears of shame.
A cup? Huh, real men can fill entire tankers with their tears of shame.

Ummm...

I tought myself how to whistle. And, although I'm not sure that this counts, I taught myself how to write.

Oh, and the internet taught me how to make explosives.

*is sent to Guantanamo Bay*

A cup? Huh, real men can fill entire tankers with their tears of shame.

Real men aren't so extravagant.

Of course, unlocking combination locks by ear isn't really that useful, especially since they're so easy to brute force.

Most everything I know was self taught. I have always been an autodidact. Most recently I taught myself CSS and Java. I did have a bit of help from W3 schools and hubby's library. I am teaching myself to cook via trial and error............lots of error! (poor hubby :()

I'm pretty much self taught in watercolors and web skills, and most of my Japanese study has been informal self studies.

you have learned on your own, or in an informal setting? No degrees/certificates/formal training allowed...

CPR/First Aid certified AND I know sign language. So if there's a deaf person drowning, you can bet your ass I'll be able to save them.

Also, I can cha-cha quite well, and I'm not bad at rumba and swing.

Hmmm... Question: how'd ya get CPR and first aid certified on your own?

The Japanese language.

Watashi wa nihongo hanamasu

Ah, and what a nice flower you are. ;) (Or was that "hana" as in "snivel"?)

I taught myself how to boil water without burning it!

I taught myself how to boil water without burning it!

Did you use dehydrated water?

Did you use dehydrated water?

the trick is to keep on stirring :)

Knitting - learned from my grandmother
Baking/pastry - learned from my dad
Sketching
Building fences/arbors - learned from/with my dad
Making teas, oils, compresses, etc. from plants
Pretty much everything computer-related, including typing (I type with two fingers, but I do NOT hunt and peck)

basic computer skills - video card upgrades, virus hunting (AVG all the way!) etc.

Guitar/Bass tech stuff.


I also taught myself to read this morning.

There are many things, but first and foremost is my self-teaching of the guitar.

I've been playing just over a year, and I've kicked my own ass throughout the process... And I'll continue to do so. I've become quite good, especially considering it's been such a short amount of time.

Learned in an informal setting? I can navigate and climb in winter and summer, I pretty much taught myself to sail small dinghys. I can use a slide rule.

I taught myself how to boil water without burning it!

Did you use dehydrated water?

the trick is to keep on stirring :)

ROTFLMAO. Kudos.

Damv, video card upgrades reminded me that I learnt how to strip and rebuild a pc using my old one. I could now build my own pc with the money and the will power..

Salvaged my DVD drive and the ATA hardrive which i now need to find an ATA - SATA cable for :P

I'm getting a lot of OJT at landscaping. I can mulch like a motherfucker. My flowerbeds are the envy of the block. And to top it off, I ground the snot out of the stump of an 80 year-old maple tree (RIP; lightning & ant infestation), installed a retaining wall on the slope of the old dead tree's former home, and am currently deciding which tree or shrubbery I should plant in its stead.

ROTFLMAO. Kudos.

*bow*

I'm gonna take all the credit for that.

Good Sex, yup, learned that in a very informal way :p

My drawing and inking skills are pretty much all self taught.

I'm self-taught in chess, photoshop, and cooking mozzarella sticks (done it through trial and error).

*bow*

I'm gonna take all the credit for that.

Bastard <_<

You have impeached my honor, and for that, I demand satisfaction! Pistols at four bells of the morning watch on the quarter deck of HMS victory!

Sailing, English, QuarkXpress, typing, drinking in excess
some programming, photoshopping, cooking, playing bridge

Swimming, diving, poetry, gardening and carpentry
driving, baking, orgasm faking, piloting (a smidge)

Building PCs from the parts, some prowess in graphic arts
pancakes flipping, lesson skipping, fixing model train

Reviewing, editing, proofreading and managing
starting fire during rain, rolling joints and sharing pain

CHORUS:
I didn't start the bragging
I will not deny it that I loved to try it
I didn't start the bragging
Please just take it lightly (edit: fixed rhymes slightly)

Edit: Ah, just remembered. It wasn't lockpicking. It was cracking the combination on combination locks by trial and error. [...] I could hear the little clicks.

I do that too. I mean, I did that too. I mean, I've once acquired the theoretical knowledge and never applied it, too.

I can hunt, big game and small. I know how to snare rabbits, grouse and other small critters. I can butcher an animal, I can dry and smoke meat. I can sing and play guitar. For some reason, I taught myself calligraphy when I was younger and I'm still rather fond of it. I interview well. I cut a mean rug...cumbias, merengues, reggaeton or what have you. I'm a good story-teller (in the actual telling a story sense, not in the lying sense).
You sir, are my new hero (although I rather learn the saxephone or trumpet then the guitar, because I'm a huge jazz fan).

For myself, I picked up a decent amount of English, I am a decent cook (for a 17 year old), I can replace basic parts in a PC, have a tiny amount of HTML and Python knowledge, I'm a decent archer (and I'm thinking of joining an archery club), I think I've got basic journalistic skills (like discussing, evaluating sources, giving proper critique, etc) and last but not least I got myself a level 70 rogue (yea I'm a WoW addict :p).
Not all that shaby for a 17 year old, but I still feel like I slack a lot.

You sir, are my new hero (although I rather learn the saxephone or trumpet then the guitar, because I'm a huge jazz fan). Ma'am actually. And I play other instruments but couldn't bring them up because I had some slight formal training throughout school.

Hmm, what else...oh yes, I'm a big fan of mythology, from various cultures, and I've made a bit of an independent study of it since I was a wee bairn. Not sure how skillful that is :D I'm a pretty good cook, and I can create a party out of thin air if need be.

CHORUS:
I didn't start the bragging
I will not deny it that I loved to try it
I didn't start the bragging
Please just take it lightly (edit: fixed rhymes slightly)

We didn't start the fire
It was always burning since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it, but we tried to fight it

Curiously, I was listening to it this morning.

Curiously, I was listening to it this morning.
It's a coolest piece on modern history I ever listened to. When I typed the first three words I just had to carry on like that (http://www.teacheroz.com/fire.htm). :)

Bastard <_<

You have impeached my honor, and for that, I demand satisfaction! Pistols at four bells of the morning watch on the quarter deck of HMS victory!

*doesn't show*

Bastard <_<

You have impeached my honor, and for that, I demand satisfaction! Pistols at four bells of the morning watch on the quarter deck of HMS victory!

The HMS victory was wrecked in 1744 with the loss of all hands, so I suspect your pistols will be quite non-functional.

self-taught...


graphic and website design probably the main one, including general stuff about computers and technology as well as video and audio editing. i know enough to get by and do pretty good work, though i know i could learn an awful lot more if i went for some training.
photography
cooking
general business skills (eg management, leadership, negotiation, etc)
playing drums (kinda badly but meh)


actually pretty much everything i do in my job is stuff i've had to pick up as i went along with no training :P

The HMS victory was wrecked in 1744 with the loss of all hands, so I suspect your pistols will be quite non-functional.

It was replaced by HMS Unsinkable, which caught fire and was burned to ash in 1749 in the Bahamas.

You can read more about this complete embarrassment here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHg5SJYRHA0)

Tarrot, runes, lucid dreaming, and now guitar!

Cooking.
Calligraphy.
Rolling a decent cigarrette.
Latin. (strictly speaking, I took this as a subject until 16, but since I've studied on my own since, I say it counts. So ner.)
I've attempted to learn guitar, and have since discovered I can't play it.
Insofar as one can, I've learnt to write poetry.

Oh, and doodling. Definitely doodling.

The HMS victory was wrecked in 1744 with the loss of all hands, so I suspect your pistols will be quite non-functional.

And then re-built, and now sits in dry dock in Portsmouth.

Painting, brewing, gardening, woodworking, sleeping.

Playing harmonica, cooking, skiing.

I'd also argue drawing. I've had a lot of formal art training, but for the most part all art classes do is tell you to draw fruit and don't give you any feedback on your work. I've rarely gotten any real instruction.

I've taught myself a ton of computer applications, which I wouldn't consider an accomplishment except that amazingly enough many people actually take classes to learn these applications and still suck at them. Also I taught myself to type, which again I wouldn't consider a skill if I hadn't seen so many people my age typing while looking at the keyboard. What the hell?

I can cook and bake using gas stoves, electric stoves, wood stoves, fireplaces and campfires. I can process wool (can't shear the sheep, but I can clean the wool, card the wool and spin it into yarn), I can knit, crochet and weave on small looms (someone else would have to construct the loom). I can embroider and sew. I know how to maintain and shoot rifles and pistols as well as small bows (it would take some practice for me to be able to hit what I aim at, though). I can milk goats (and, by extension, cows) and churn butter.

I was born and raised in the city. I learned everything (except gun use) at Renaissance Faire.

I can juggle.

But perhaps more relevantly, all of my professional skills (I'm a database guy) are self-taught. I've been doing this for 9 years, and I had literally my very first instance of formal training earlier this month.

Oh, and I'm pretty good with a lathe.

Rolling a decent cigarrette.

I can roll a damn good cigarette. (:

I've taught myself several clowning skills I have no formal training in; magic for instance. I can cook, build a computer, tackle a man 10 inches taller and 75 lbs heavier than me, scuba dive and escape a straitjacket.

I also have a knack for attracting attention to myself. You may have noticed. :)

You may have noticed. :)
Who the heck are you?

:p

I've taught myself several clowning skills I have no formal training in; magic for instance. I can cook, build a computer, tackle a man 10 inches taller and 75 lbs heavier than me, scuba dive and escape a straitjacket.

I also have a knack for attracting attention to myself. You may have noticed. :)
I wasted my money on clown college :( I had to master 3 skills to graduate.........I picked the wrong ones. :( Now I have to go back to school.

I've taught myself several clowning skills I have no formal training in; magic for instance. I can cook, build a computer, tackle a man 10 inches taller and 75 lbs heavier than me, scuba dive and escape a straitjacket.

I also have a knack for attracting attention to myself. You may have noticed. :)But not two straitjackets! >=D

a smattering of polish and spanish, plus most of my field archaeology was learned informally. and cooking, from watching my dad and experimenting myself

I suppose I've been taught stuff by my parents, like how to whistle.
I can't think of anything I've learned completely on my own. Other than that I don't learn well outside of formal classes, but that's not a skill.
Oh, well there is something, but I shouldn't say it.

I learned how to grow magic mushrooms at home - I learned how to grow kind buds at home - I learned how to get along in county jail after being busted with growing equipment and the pot and shrooms that they grow.

I'm learning Tagalog at home.

I learned that Neesika is an awesome story teller. No lie. I love hearing her tell her tales.

Oh I can blow bubbles made of spit off my tongue.

I taught myself how to masturbate also.

to catch and dress rabbits, poach trout, pigeons, pheasants and catch eels

I have taught myself to draw, twiddle my thumbs, whistle, play cat's cradle, knit, tie knots, macramé, spin thread, embroider, use photoshop, write fiction (as opposed to essay writin' and nonfiction writin'), climb trees, brew the ideal cup of tea, construct creative desserts, bake, execute body art of varying quality, photography, and to play the ukulele. I am a lady of many talents. :P

I thought myself to play the piano by reading some books and listening to others play.

*doesn't show*

Then you sir, have no honor! Hand me ye sword of 50 guineas!

Photography.

And I prefer Hilton hotels. Better beds.

And I prefer Hilton hotels. Better beds.

Free service too, if you know what I mean.

Or not.

Free service too, if you know what I mean.

Or not.

Lame.

Lame.

That is essentially the reason I am so happy about the free service.

That is essentially the reason I am so happy about the free service.

:eek:

Ok, I haven't actually done the latter, and I will be the former at some point. But what I actually want to know is...what skills do you possess that you have learned on your own, or in an informal setting? No degrees/certificates/formal training allowed...what skills have you managed to just pick up along the way? This can include things other people have taught you as long as it was in an informal setting.

Computers. Self taught for most of my life. Went to college much later in life just to get the degree for better marketability.

And what is wrong with certificates if you studied for them on your own time with no training or help? A certificate is just a way of saying you have the knowledge and can prove it. So, I took and passed all these after learning on my own with no classes or even prep books. (it's easier than listing every thing I learned about computers)

CompTIA A+
Network+
Linux+
MCSA
MCSE (NT 2000 and 2003)
CCNA (Current)

Self taught on the guitar as well.