Are there some things that you cannot learn?

Driving, I've had hundreds of lessons, I can technically drive a car, I cannot pass the test, my brain goes blank, I can't focus for that long. My friends and colleagues make fun of me often about it. 😣😭.

Calculus. Peeps have tried to teach me three times. Might have another go in my declining years. Wish me luck.

Yep. I will never be able to draw, or paint, or any other visual art.

I was always spectacularly crap at art in school, and a few years ago I realised I was aphantasic and that pretty much explained why.

I can compose a piece of music. I hear it in my head, and then can play that on the piano, and then write down the notes I've played.

I cannot see the thing I want to draw in my head. If I want to draw a rabbit, then obviously I know what a rabbit looks like. If I went out and saw a rabbit, my brain would go "That's a rabbit", so the knowledge is definitely in there, but I just can't picture it in my head to then copy that mental image onto the paper. It's no better if I've got a reference picture, because I have to look away from it to look at the paper and my pencil, and so the image is instantly gone from my brain.

Really fascinating to read this as my teenage DD who couldn’t cope at all in MS secondary school subsequently diagnosed as AuDHD has taught herself Blender plus learnt crochet, and Korean using YouTube & Netflix without subtitles and plays the piano. Maybe it’s a part of the brain needed that is accessed differently. Yet she struggles with many things that most folk find easy. She does rotate through a lot of YouTubers finding a learning style that suits her, and has herself a couple of channels on very niche interests which attract good feedback as she can communicate complex things with ease yet is seriously struggling to pass her gcse English. HOW we all learn is different and finding that way is key to learning new skills.

Dance, I struggle with left and right, and can never remember the steps, and it all worse if I'm going backwards. I can throw my hand in the air and wiggle to the beat, but nothing beyond that!

I have never driven abroad but we were in Florida with XH doing all the driving. I just couldn't fathom what direction was what. We were at a junction and I thought, "OK, we turn this way" '- we'd have been going into oncoming traffic.

Not a clue yet I have a very good sense of direction in this country.

Certain vocal sounds in Danish. I'll say abc to my colleague, they look a bit blank and say did you mean abc? Yes that's exactly what I said. No, they say abc and I cannot hear a difference between the 2. I've come to accept this failing after nearly 20 years.

And the free online IKEA kitchen designer app. WTF. It would be easier to break into the Bank of England at noon in broad daylight, than place a hob on the right wall.

I cannot get hoses to attach to taps. I can’t figure out how Instagram works.

Ice skating backwards. Someone once spent ages trying to teach me and every time I tried I just couldn't do it! We gave up in the end and I just stuck with going forwards!

driving on the opposite side of the road abroad with the gearstick and drivers seat on the opposite side to what I’m used to. Felt sick dread when approaching every junction because my muscle memory brain couldn’t comprehend which way to look for traffic. I’m a totally safe and competent driver at home and can parallel park like a bad ass. But not abroad. Nope.

Jamming. I can play a few instruments and read music. Not sight reading, I have the practice a piece a lot to be able to play it well, but I can play ok.

But if it goes to jamming I just freeze up. Even a simple 12 bar blues, anything other than walking up and down the notes of the chords just turns into randomly hitting the keys.

DH can pick up almost sny instrument and improvise, and jam with people he's only just met. It's like a super power.

My pitmans shorthand teacher was amazed at my ability to not understand any of it. That was something invented by a person who didn’t like people that much!
I can touch type though.

I think I could learn almost anything cerebral, with varying success rates depending on my level of interest (if I'm not interested I'm very bad at learning), but it's a different story with physical things. There is no way I could learn to ride a bike, and although I did teach myself to swim - after a fashion - I can only do a very uptight breast stroke as I just CANNOT put my head, or any part of my head (ears, eyes, nose) under water. However I can knit and crochet, fairly badly.

The ability to draw something, out of your head.
At school I could make a just about OK copy of a simple still life right in front of me, but anything else…. I really used to envy girls who were always drawing e.g. ponies in their rough books.
The art teacher’s comment on my report was usually one word: ‘Weak’.

OTOH people used to ask me how I could just pick out a tune on the piano….
Well, I just could.

I subscribe to the Homer Simpson philosophy, “If something is too difficult to do, it isn’t worth doing”.

So for me, if it looks difficult, I save myself the stress, have an easy life and don’t bother.

Crochet. My lovely dil is a demon with the one hook. I just watch in fascination. I feel that some people are at one with wool. I’m not.

Knitting. I can just about manage a row before dropping the stitches, and crocheting, aside just making an extremely wonky looking square I can’t do anything else. I’ve tried and tried countless times. Watched many a YouTube video. Tried different sized crochet hooks, and different thicknesses of yarn. Maths is also one i cannot get my head around. Times table not a problem but percentages, fractions etc no chance. Weirdly though I can pick up a foreign language just like that.

I think most people can master new skills at any age but it definitely gets harder to learn and retain them.

I've learnt to code, sew and knit but I have become increasingly rubbish at learning new sports/anything physical mostly because I'm more hesitant and worried about getting hurt than I was when younger. I paid for skiing lessons and never progressed despite having been a proficient snowboarder in my 20s, 3 year old learners were better!

History - it’s not that I’m not interested, just I forget instantly what I’ve learned, eg from a museum or similar.

(But I became a crochet addict after a short lesson and hugely prefer to knitting now!)

I wish I was more like you at work. I struggle to switch off and definitely care too much even though it’s just a job to make money and the big wigs wouldn’t give a shit if I died tomorrow

Playing chess.
Using a sewing machine.
Paint and decorate.
I’ve tried several times!

Pool/ snooker. Have been bullied in to a round with everyone saying you can’t be that bad. ….. oh you really are. I just can’t control the stick, or push hard enough to make a ball move. I don’t know why, I’m good at sport, I’m strong, I’m coordinated. Never going to master it

Ah ok, see what you mean. I think the only way to make that easier is suspend your thoughts on the English language completely 😂 how amazing to spend winters in Cyprus 💕 I’d love that ☺️