I love practicing with Java. Once you learn the basic syntax on how to create a method and start poking around with variables, you can start doing some fun stuff. The only problem I run into is that more often than not, I simply don't know how the syntax should be organized, or what keywords to use.
For example, the first day I started watching the videos, he talked about if statements. I'd poked around other languages before, and if statements are usually one of the first things you learn, so I was already somewhat familiar with it.
So I messed around with that, and suddenly had the great idea to make a program that counted up from one to an arbitrary number. The first thought that came into my head was... how the hell am I going to do that with if statements?
It became quickly evident that if was not the right keyword. I would have to re-write the line of code each time it incremented upwards, so that it could check the variable again. So, I went to google, and typed in basic Java syntax. I was quickly presented with a cheatsheet that showed me a variety of useful keywords. Under 'loops', I found the keyword 'while'. Didn't take me long to figure out how to make the program after stumbling upon that.
The point, is that it's hard to practice writing code if you're not familiar with the syntax. You think of a fun idea for a beginner program, and you realize that the syntax you already know doesn't actually work with that idea. That's why I've been watching the tutorial series - to introduce me to the new syntax and format that I can use.
Learning a new language has always been overwhelming for me. I tried learning C, and that was just a punched in the face. I couldn't find a good compiler, and I had no idea what I was doing, so that crashed quickly. There's just soooo much to learn, and I have a really bad habit of not pacing myself through long learning processes. I try to learn everything at once as fast as I can, and I end up not memorizing the key points. I guess that must be what's tripping me up here.