Lack of education becoming apparent

[Maltesters]

I'm hoping to get some tips of how to better my general knowledge. The older I get, the more apparent my lack of knowledge becomes.

Further education after High School was never an option for me. I grew up in a very toxic, abusive household so education was never a priority.

Despite my disadvantaged start in life I've done okay for myself. I have a good job and a fairly stable life however I have always longed for a profession, something I can be confident in and proud of. A degree/profession might be an option in the future but it's not something we can budget for at the moment. I don't know what I would even study so I'd need to do a ton of research first before I could consider choosing a subject.

Dh is an educated professional and when we chat the gaps in my knowledge are becoming more and more visible. I find that I really struggle to hold a conversation with him or with anyone because I really don't know a lot. The problem is that I don't know what I don't know and I don't know how to fix this.

I try to read up on news and research anything that I don't understand but I'm really struggling. I am really clueless on everything basically and I'm incredibly embarrassed by how little I know.

Can anyone suggest some books to read or topics that I could look up to help me? I have no idea where to begin really. I'm so sick of feeling unintelligent and unable to join in conversations because I don't have a clue what people are talking about.

Really interesting thread, OP. I don't have much to add to the excellent suggestions here - though the benefits of lifelong 24 hr listening to BBC Radio 4 cannot be over-emphasised. I find Radio 3 less satisfying now they’re chopping up all the music to make it ‘accessible’ - but the conversational programmes are still fascinating and follow quirkier paths than Radio 4. You need both. Then follow up the programme links on their individual websites, or just Google anything that piques your curiosity.

However - you mentioned not knowing what subject you might want to study, eventually. For that you need the beautiful, new-ish Mature Study and Retraining board (also under Education!), here:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mature_students

Countless people all considering, navigating or reflecting on taking exactly this step. Whether Access courses or Art School or Train Driver Training! I strongly suggest you set aside time every day to read a few threads there.

I’d listen to radio 4 in the background and find a newspaper or weekly news magazine that you like.
And go to some museums and art galleries in your free time.
Plus you don’t need to know about everything nor have a degree at all.
The most important thing is curiosity about life in general and you already have that!

Radio 4 always on
Audible subscription is great for accessing books I would otherwise find it impossible to carve out the time to read. Get the classics under your belt while washing up or travelling to work. I also 'read' non-fiction this way, learning about European history at the moment.
My brother recommended the Crash Course series on YouTube to bring me up to speed on something he wanted to discuss. At first glance, I thought it looked like it was a bit 'young' and wondered whether I ought to consider myself roundly patronised, but I wholeheartedly recommend it as an entry point to a new subject, especially as you feel like you don't know what you know, which is so true when we are new to something!
My local FE college do short and longer courses, both evening and daytime on a range of subjects. I have done a couple and found that having a knowledgeable person facilitating discussion and leading learners' enquiry into something not only broadens knowledge but teaches you how to think critically, make connections with related fields and to navigate sources of information.

I recommend (though it was a while ago I read it) A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. Very readable history of scientific development, if I remember rightly.

Others have mentioned Radio 4 - if you use the Sounds app there's lots of good stuff on there. Science based I like The Curious Cases of Rutherford and Fry and The Infinite Monkey Cage. You're Dead to Me is very good for history and I also enjoyed a programme with Ian Hislop of all people about the different kingdoms of early England. There's also readings and adaptations on Sounds of a lot of classic books.

DK books on world history and science are great. Watch quiz shows, read the news. I also like some historical fiction - there were a couple of James Mitchener books I got into. It helped me get a feel for history of a place even though I knew it was fictional.

Also Robert Harris has some good historical fiction.

Much of the stuff I've learnt since uni has been through visiting museums, galleries, National Trust properties etc usually with the DCs when they were small. Most history was missing from my school education and I have picked up huge amounts this way.

I also try and watch occasional programmes on sports I'm not really interested in, just so that I can contribute to conversations on football etc without looking like a total numpty.

I always watch the news, and try and read articles on the BBC website. Question Time in the BBC is good at covering a range of issues in bitesize sections.

Gresham college also has free lectures that are posted online that can be quite interesting

Listen to Desert Island Discs. Plunder the archive and pick figures you have heard of and those you haven't, scientists, diplomats, authors, explorers, anyone that catches your eye. And follow up on anything that piques your interest.

Sorry meant to add, you will also be exposed to a wide range of music as a bonus.

@Justkeeppedaling

Listen to Radio 4, and read a good range of non tabloid newspapers.

This

BBC 4. BBC history on catch up. Excellent programmes on there.

I know what you mean OP. When public school boys like Boris Johnson start opining in Latin it's deliberately designed to make ordinary people like me feel uncultured, uneducated and unworthy of inclusion. There are some great suggestions here and educating yourself is a fantastic mindset but don't feel bad!

Stuff I did to educate myself:

• Read lots of autobiographies. Jon Snow's 'Shooting History', Kate Adie's 'The Kindness of Strangers', John Simpson's 'A Mad World, My Masters' and Ryszard Kapucinszki's 'The Shadow of the Sun' really changed the way I saw the world. Journalists are excellent writers so very accessible, but I also read autobiographies by politicians and diplomats and didn't come across one I didn't find interesting. Not just British ones: Madeleine Albright's first autobiography goes all the way from her experience as a refugee in WW2 to just before the invasion of Iraq in 2003. Kofi Anan writes beautifully. 'In Confidence' by Anatoly Dobrynin is a good one to read right now!

• Follow a think tank like Chatham House. I joined as a student member but it's quite expensive otherwise. They do frequent research events with world leaders and academics that are free to view online. I went to in-person events with people like Narendra Modi and Ashraf Ghani which gave completely different perspectives on current affairs.

• Listen to Radio 4. My radio alarm clock wakes me up with the Today program so I know what's going on in the world before I even get out of bed. PM is another good one.

• Go to museums and art galleries. You don't need to go into London if you don't live locally. Start with your local museums and go to a few events to learn the language.

• Do a general knowledge crossword regularly. It taught me a lot about subjects where I have minimal interest, like Greek and Norse mythology, classic English poetry, art and theatre. I do the Telegraph GK crossword on Saturdays and it's also interesting to read the paper and the magazine. I don't agree with the general worldview but I don't think it's a bad thing to consider another point of view. The magazine does arty stuff too.

• An OU degree. I went with what I loved rather than what suited me career-wise and did a degree in International Studies. That might not be practical for you but six years is a long time to commit to something you don't enjoy. I graduated in 2020 age 32

• Read, read, read. Watch amazing documentaries like David Attenborough.

• Never let anyone else make you feel stupid. You can learn from amazing people and forget the ones who try to make you feel inferior.

I don’t think it’s lack of formal education and in any case from your posts you most certainly sound “uneducated”
I have long in depth chats with my plumber when he’s here about all sorts and I have a degree plus higher qualifications and he went the apprentice route
I think being interested in current affairs and having an opinion backed by actual facts is all you need

News night, Question Time on BBC and Peston on Itv all very interesting overviews of current situations.

Don't do books! You will drown in them. Make a point of watching BBC documentaries. As has been said on other threads over the last 48 hours, don't be adverse to watching newsround for entry level explainers. Make it easy for yourself.

Not sure why you think a degree will help but if that is something you feel you need look at the OU website, they have many short and free courses. Google is your friend, if you come across something you don't understand or somewhere you haven't heard of google it. Use your local Library for reference books and they will often have a list of talks or art exhibitions.

Have a look at FutureLearn online courses. There are lots of topical short courses all of which are free.

I think it's a case of identifying what sort of time you have available, Radio 4 podcasts or audio books are great for using time doing chores / commuting. The Guardian is free online so good for reading single articles to supplement something like the BBC. Something like Open learn, Future learn or Coursera would be good for free online courses if you have regular bits of phone browsing time.

If you have sitting down over coffee time I find the Economist is the best general read. As well as the political side, it also covers business and science with fairly easy to read summaries. It also has book reviews of recent both fiction and non-fiction books, and I find they are pretty good at pulling out the ones that might end up in conversation.

Just listen to R4 and subscribe to The Times, OP. What you mean is cultural literacy rather than education per se.

How about starting with a current affairs magazine aimed at young teens?

My DCs subscribed for a while, can't remember the name of it but it was massively interesting and informative; I used to read it from cover to cover. It's newsy and easy to read.

It's all very well people saying read the FT every day but if you've never read small print on topics you don't much know much about, it's boring and intimidating and difficult to follow.

This is quite a good book to dip into as it is all in small chunks

www.amazon.co.uk/This-Day-History-Dan-Snow/dp/1473691303/ref=asc_df_1473691303/?hvlocphy=1006598&hvlocphy=1006598&linkCode=df0&hvptwo&hvptwo&psc=1&hvnetw=g&hvnetw=g&hvadid=375446877283&hvadid=375446877283&hvpone&hvpone&hvlocint&hvlocint&ref&hvpos&hvpos&hvdev=m&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl&hvdvcmdl&hvqmt&hvqmt&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&hvtargid=pla-848887160634&hvtargid=pla-848887160634&hvrand=3842666880771460487&hvrand=3842666880771460487&adgrpid=76471991666

Do you have a commute that you could listen to a podcast?
I really recommend The Allusionist. The theme of these podcasts is "language" but this broad subject has covered such disparate things as
*How our brain deals with language loss after a stroke and how some people relearn to speak.
*Why there is a significant Welsh speaking population in Patagonia in South America
*Everyday objects named after people (like hoover and biro)

It's a real rabbit hole of information, both useful and useless (but interesting)

My degree is accountancy, which then became my job.

I know four fifths of f all about

History
English
Art

Which I hated.

Funnily enough these are often the subjects that media types think you need to know about to be cultured.

I don't worry too much

Read a daily newspaper. I read the Telegraph every day and learn a lot about everything from it.

Yes, it is right leaning ( but you can just skip past the likes of Celia Walden), but it also has columnists like Suzanne Moore who anything but right wing.

Once you start reading it, it will take you a while to get through it as most things will be new to you. But after a few weeks, you will get much quicker.