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Notes -
I was self-taught from a young age. It never really felt like “learning”, it was just “fun”, because I was so fascinated by it all. Constantly trying out new languages, thinking of new little projects to do (everything from webdev to bare metal stuff like bootloaders), I even took programming books with me when we went on family vacations. None of it was very structured, but I did end up exposing myself to a very broad variety of areas.
In general it’s very hard to teach someone a complex skill when they have neither intrinsic talent nor intrinsic motivation. I have no suggestions about what to do in that case, except for asking him which topics he finds the most interesting and encouraging him to work on those things.
Edit to expand a little more: I think all learning is essentially self-learning. In the course of my life, I have never encountered any significant evidence to the contrary. Talk about using a “gamified” approach or a “rigorous” approach is ultimately neither here nor there, because YOU can’t actually “teach” him anything with either method. He has to do the legwork himself. He may gravitate to a more rigorous approach, or a more vibes-based approach, it doesn’t really matter. In my view, the role of a teacher is mainly to be a sounding board for questions, but crucially the teacher should be an intelligent sounding board. They should not only provide answers, but they should also examine the hidden underlying assumptions behind the student’s questions, and they should correct misconceptions and guide the student in the right direction when they seem to be going down a bad path.
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