That really hits the nail on the head. I am currently trying to learn chemistry, and trying to figure out the what to learn part has been extremely hard. Even trying to get a handle on the correct terminology so that you can then search online for more information was hard enough. I am trying a two-pronged attack on this problem. First I am reading Asimov's short history of chemistry, to try to get a basic understanding of the field. Second, I am trying a couple of projects where I think chemistry could be useful, and so by exploration I hope to also get a handle on some aspects of the field.