Here's my process, for what it's worth:
1. Read some code that's out there in the language, either in a book or online. Books are great for this, particularly with more mature languages. Absorb the idioms of the code. Like poetry in a foreign language.
2. Play around a bit. See if you can get the basic tools (compiler, IDE, emacs extensions, whatever toys fit in your own sandbox). Write a "hello world". Get something built and running quickly. Even if it's just a loop that counts to 100.
3. Once you've played a little, go read a little more code. That's your scaffold for learning.
4. Come back and play some more.
5. Add to resume and see if someone will pay for you to learn some more. If not, repeat 3-4-5 until you've got a contract where you will be compelled to master the language, or...
6. Once you're doing something in production with the code, evaluate against other technologies you've used to get there. Does the new language work well? Does it play a role for you? Or is it flawed at scale? Maybe it's good for prototyping. Maybe you find it's really not good for anything and teaches bad habits. Add this knowledge to your base, and...
7. Go back to step 1 again. Repeat for entire career.
It's worked for me. I've had a lot of fun engineering. And when I get to step 6, I keep coming back to Java, over and over, as much as I'd like to move on. But that's a topic for another day.
2. Play around a bit. See if you can get the basic tools (compiler, IDE, emacs extensions, whatever toys fit in your own sandbox). Write a "hello world". Get something built and running quickly. Even if it's just a loop that counts to 100.
3. Once you've played a little, go read a little more code. That's your scaffold for learning.
4. Come back and play some more.
5. Add to resume and see if someone will pay for you to learn some more. If not, repeat 3-4-5 until you've got a contract where you will be compelled to master the language, or...
6. Once you're doing something in production with the code, evaluate against other technologies you've used to get there. Does the new language work well? Does it play a role for you? Or is it flawed at scale? Maybe it's good for prototyping. Maybe you find it's really not good for anything and teaches bad habits. Add this knowledge to your base, and...
7. Go back to step 1 again. Repeat for entire career.
It's worked for me. I've had a lot of fun engineering. And when I get to step 6, I keep coming back to Java, over and over, as much as I'd like to move on. But that's a topic for another day.