Are there any skills you wish you could have acquired?

I wish I had cooking/domestic science lessons at school. We were taught sewing for 30 minutes a week but we were never taught anything else. I don't feel confident enough to go to night school as I do not feel it is safe to walk from the carpark to the adult education centre in our town. They have transferred a lot of the classes to other towns so it is difficult and there is very little offered in the daytime.

Ice-skating, my mother would not hear of my learning and I wasn't even allowed roller skates.

I can sew, knit, do embroidery, tapestry and lots of crafts, but I never learned to crochet. Bought a 'How To' book a few years ago probably aimed at children, and know there will be numerous sources on YouTube/internet, but never have time to sit down and study them or the book! 64 later in the year - never too late to learn I guess!!

Oh yes, and gardening skills, so that the flowers and bulbs that I carefully plant, following instructions, don’t shrug and go, “You've got a hope!”

I am very practical and have many skills - cooking, sewing, arts and crafts, household chores but I've never lived on my own so decorating, fixing things etc have always been done by someone else..

i wish i could play the piano

It's never too late to learn. ~Think of that.

To swim properly, crotchet, speak French fluently, enjoy sewing! That is for starters!!!

I was also thrown out of knitting and sewing classes at school. Wouldn't happen now. I learned to knit and crochet in my twenties thanks to a very patient aunt. Always wanted to learn to sew , when I retired I bought a sewing machine and booked myself into some beginners classes, followed by beginners quilting classes. Love it and wished I had taken the plunge earlier.

I love music and singing BUT I just cannot make my voice produce an 'on-pitch note' - doesn't matter what I do! I can HEAR that it's wrong - but don't know how to correct it . Like everybody else, of my generation in UK, I learned to play a recorder at the age of 9-11 - so I can read music. I studied music to GCE 'O' Level - but failed on the practical paper as I couldn't play piano/violin or 'Sight Sing' an unknown piece of music. How I wish that I'd learned to play piano, violin or guitar when younger.

I also wish that I'd continued my battle with Shorthand. I tried twice to learn, and gave up at the same point on each course ....................... I just could NOT get past 'dipthongs'. I'm sure there's LOTS of you out there who know exactly what I'm talking about .

One final regret - that I didn't go to University. As a teenager, I had no confidence in my own abilities and didn't think I'd pass enough O-levels to warrant staying on for A-levels. As it was, I got 5 - with a bit more encouragement, I could probably have made it to 7, but 'C'est la vie'!

I would like to be able to sing but the fact I can't doesn't stop me! I would also like to remember the words to songs but I am forced to make up my own.

I would have loved to learned how to operate a JCB, also play the piano, and speak fluent Italian because it sounds beautiful. I spent a year at evening classes, but just couldn’t retain the words. Most of all I’d love to be able to recognise people having had prosopagnosia all my life, also known as face blindness. Some sense of direction would be good too.

olliebeak I left school with one O level after passing all the mocks! Put it down to nerves. Did some again in my early 30s + two A levels and passed them.

I went to university at the age of 34. Met others there much older than me. Got a B.Ed Hons (2.1) . 'It's never too late'!

I would have liked to have learnt sign language I decided recently to have a go at learning Makaton. It’s some thing I have seen on Children’s tv while helping with my little granddaughters. It’s very interesting and a helpful form of communication.

For a long time I have regretted not continuing piano lessons. So much so that, despite being in my dotage, I am looking to treat myself to a decent keyboard. Good exercise for arthritic hands and a new hobby as I am housebound by restricted mobility.
And to all the ladies who have never learned to use a sewing machine I would say try a hand machine first and a simple guide to usage. It isn’t difficult and you will discover that with patience and practice it becomes easier and very useful.

Playing the violin. There were lessons every Tuesday after school but as my twin sister wasn't interested and she didn't want to walk home by herself I stupidly caved in. I would probably would have made the most awful racket but at least I would have tried. Have always regretted it.

I wish I’d learnt all those diy skills many men seem to take for granted.

I am really surprised that I cannot think of anything. I can swim enough to keep afloat. Never wanted to play an instrument. I can get by in Greek, Spanish & French. I can drive, knit, crochet & sew reasonably well. I can certainly cook! I used to teach it.
The only thing is that I loved drama at school &I would have liked to act a bit.
We have a brilliant local am-dram theatre & we go to all their shows. I wish I had joined when I was younger . I couldn't remember the lines now. I have trouble remembering what day it is at the moment!!

I wish I had learned to play the piano, but most other things I wanted to do I made myself do as an adult. I can now touch type, crochet (I learned to knit many years ago), speak German , not fluently but enough to hold a conversation. I did a degree when I was 40 and wrote a novel although it’s not been edited yet. In lockdown I started a business which is moderately successful. If you want to learn something it’s never too late, you can do it and get a great sense of achievement. I love learning, it is the key to happiness in my opinion.

Languages. I am OK in French and Spanish but do look on awe at those who are multi lingual. One of my friends speaks 7 languages!! I am also amazed at people in foreign lands who, when confronted with a t.v. camera, speak very good English. Sports people, who travel to play their individual sport, also seem to pick up the languages easily.

I wish I’d have stuck to piano lessons at school.

I am lucky in that I learnt to dive at 40 years! love it.

I would really like to be able to dance salsa properly, preferably with a partner who likes to dance :-)

Play the piano. Now gaze at grandson who.is on.about grade 8, through window these days, magic fingers, hands crossover, not playingwith feet just yet though.

I have spent a lot of time around people who speak English as a foreign language. What many of them say is that English is widely spoken around the world, and especially on TV. So they grow up watching a lot of US films / British TV with sub-titles in the local language, but they hear the English. People from all around Europe, the Indian sub-continent, Pacific Islands and Central America say it would be fairly rare to go a day without hearing English in some form. Even in remote areas, you are likely to have the TV on.
I think in the past, films and TV were often dubbed, but with modern technology, sub-titles are cheaper - and a lot of people like it because speaking English is useful.
I should emphasise that this is what people have told me, I myself am not well travelled.

To learn and speak another language fluently. I can remember quite a good vocabulary in French and German, but I collapse in using the correct form of verbs, and am (stubbornly) too embarrassed to speak out until I know what I am about to say is fully correct. This puts a stop to any conversation. (My bad, with apologies to that other thread on here today - lol)