[Foober223]

1. Immersion. Jumping straight in to implement a feature, or achieve a goal. Even if understanding is currently incomplete. Lookup docs and online info as needed to overcome roadblocks.

2. Combine that with "by the book" learning. Actually sitting down and reading a book, a man page, etc.

3. Getting a feel for the community and how they do things. In C you may revolt if you look at some of the code. But if you immerse yourself with peers you can learn the reasons (or lack thereof) behind things. Why data is stored in a a bunch of fixed size arrays instead of objects or whatever. Arcane but important tidbits you may not get from most books.

All 3 in no particular order/weight.