Want to learn an academic subject? One you know virtually nothing about?

You could go back to school. If a certification (“degree”) is important, you probably need to do just that.

But if you just want to learn – in what is probably the least expensive and efficient manner – make use of a reading list.

“What’s a reading list?” you say? Well, glad you asked.

A reading list is a compilation of books and other text materials to master a given subject. Schools provide them for enrolled students, but they’re usually easily available online

Such as here, for Mongolian studies: http://www3.uakron.edu/worldciv/russ/mongbib.html

Or here, for mathematics: https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~abhishek/chicmath.htm

Almost any academic subject will have a number of these; start by doing a search for “(topic you’re interested in) reading list.”

This doesn’t work if you want to learn pottery or auto mechanics or surfing or any number of other, important, interesting subjects but ones that are not academic.

If you’re doing reading (which is a hard job, especially in an area you start off not knowing anything about) try to find folks to talk to about it. There may be meet up gatherings locally, or online discussion groups you could join, or a local group. (Public libraries are often good for discovering something like that). Youtube and other video sources will often have amazing lectures and demonstration video that are astonishingly helpful. There will always be videos that are duds, but keep looking.