How to learn to drive stick shift
It made me
Feel Good! 
"You just need to practice frequently and be patient. Don't let fear take control and always think positive. Take your practice to real road scenarios."
How I did it:
I decided to learn stick shift because I know that automatic cars are much easier to learn when I know how to drive manual cars.
So I first enrolled to one a driving school to learn some of the basics. It was worth while just because there are some etiquettes and information that you will not know if your just going to study on your own or if you ask somebody to teach you. Obviously most of what you will learn can be used when you start driving automatic cars.Then I have my neighbor teach me. Although some of the techniques he introduced to me were a bit hard, what I did is I joined car forums and posted questions and some usual conversation with someone who know how to drive. I also practice frequently and gave myself deadline to when I should finish to learn how to do something. I usually take what I learn to the next level by applying it to real road condition. I don't think that what I do is hard but rather challenging.
One challenge I had is to do 'hanging'. In my country most of the roads are not that good and usually has heavy traffic flow. I cannot do what my neighbor is teaching me so I posted questions in forums and somebody told me that if I cannot correctly time the release of clutch and gas pedal then I should use the handbreaks. When I tried it it was so easy to hang. After a while I already know how to hang without using the handbreak automatically. It was just really a matter of giving your self proper time to practice.
My neighbor told me not to be intimidated by other motorist on the road. They always have option to change lane if they think I'm driving too slow. My GF's father use to say 'drive like hell and you'll get there' that's why I dont give a damn whether I'm driving slow when I use to practice before. Don't speed up when motorist behind you is pressing their horns. Just drive to the speed your comfortable.
I also used the web to search for video tutorials and put it on my PDA so that I can watch it when I have free time.
Lessons & tips: Don't rush yourself. Learning to drive stick-shift requires practice, patience, hand and foot coordination and concentration. Don't be intimidated by other motorist. Always stay calm and don't rush what you do just because there are other vehicles behind you. Remember they have the option to move out of your lane anytime.
Resources:
- I went to this page for a video tutorial I actually grabbed some of the free videos here by using Mozilla and the addon downloadhelper:
