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Learning Path - Absolute Beginner (Long)

Welcome to the Absolute Beginner (Long) learning path. This is also the default path for this workshop.

Before you proceed, please make sure that you have read the introductory README.md file outlining this course. If you are eager, this would also be a great opportunity to have a look at the Markdown Primer to learn something about Markdown.

First Steps

Before starting the actual workshop, you will have to make a decision. You can either use Google Colab, a browser-based development environment, or your own local environment (on your computer) for coding along. While the first option is a lot easier, more comfortable, and recommended, you will be required to have or create a Google account.

If you are willing to use or create a Google account, proceed as follows:

  1. Watch the video "Python Programming for Absolute Beginners".
  2. Watch the video "Getting Started with Google Colab".

You can also flip these two videos around if you are eager to start coding as fast as possible!

If you don't want to rely on Google, you will have to set up your own development environment locally. This is a little bit tricky, but you'll be fine! In this case, proceed as follows:

  1. Watch the video "Python Programming for Absolute Beginners".
  2. Watch the video "Setting Up Your Development Environment (Windows)".

Let's Get Coding

You should now have a first understanding of the Python programming language as well as an environment in which you can code. Awesome! 🎉 If you have the time, have a brief look at the Commenting in Python in order to learn how to document your code a little bit better.

Now you will go through a series of videos and exercises. These will teach your Python and also prepare you for the live session (and/or the recording of it) as well as the more challenging exercises down the line.

  1. Familiarize yourself with Python notebooks and try to solve exercises 1 to 3 (Solutions).
  2. Watch the video "The Pizza Problem".
  3. Try to solve exercises 4 and 5 (Solutions).

If you are unfamiliar with Regular Expressions, now would be a great time to have a look at the RegEx Primer for Linguistics. After watching the video, you should be prepared to take a shot at the Additional Exercises on Regular Expressions.

Let's get back to the regular program:

  1. Watch the video "Working with Files, Texts, and Regular Expressions".
  2. Try to solve exercises 6 and 7 (Solutions).

Now we are approaching the biggest set of exercises in this workshop. These exercises (Exercises 8 to 17) are very challenging and will be solved during the live session. Of course, you can also go through them by watching the recording. In these exercises, we will recreate some common tools used in corpus linguistics as well as work with some real-life data.

Either way, you should prepare a little before attempting them:

  1. Have a look at the (Linux) Command Line Primer.

  2. Have a look at the New Tools and Syntax notebook and play around with these new tools in your toolbox.

  3. Now you should be ready for Exercises 8 to 17. Have a look at them, but don't get scared! 😱 These are rather challenging, and you are not supposed to solve them on your own just now! That said, especially if you are planning to attend the live session, having a look at them beforehand will help during the session. If you are working through the workshop at your own pace, have a look at the recording and work through the exercises. There are solutions available for you to consult and experiment with.

Congratulations, you are almost finished! 😃

  1. Finally, watch the video "Summary and Resources".

Now that you have worked through most of the materials feel free to have a look at the Bonus Notebooks and the List of Additional Resources.