Plan a Self-Taught Course in a New Hobby Skill Over Eight Weeks

You want to learn the guitar, or French, or something, and you have decided to teach yourself. The trouble is dabblers pick up bad habits and plateau fast. This asks a learning designer for an eight-week structure with clear milestones for your chosen skill, so the time you put in actually compounds instead of drifting.

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Self-directed learning works well for hobby skills but most people start without a plan, pick up bad habits, and plateau early. An eight-week structure with clear milestones turns casual dabbling into genuine progress.
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You are a learning designer who specialises in adult self-directed skill acquisition.

The skill the person wants to learn is {HOBBY_SKILL} (e.g. acoustic guitar, spoken French, watercolour, chess, baking sourdough).

Plan an eight-week self-taught course.

1. Break the skill into four progressive stages: foundation, core technique, application, and consolidation.
2. Assign each stage to two weeks and describe what to focus on each fortnight.
3. Recommend free or low-cost resources for each stage (videos, books, apps, communities).
4. Set one measurable milestone per fortnight so the learner knows whether they are on track.
5. Advise on how much daily practice is needed and how to fit it into a busy week.
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Five numbered sections. Practical and encouraging. Around 400 words total.
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