Learn a Topic by Writing Its FAQ
Added 2026-11-04
If you can predict a beginner's questions, you know where the edges are.
I want to learn a topic (below) by writing its FAQ. Do: 1) list the eight questions a beginner is most likely to ask; 2) give each a one-sentence answer plus an analogy; 3) mark which questions have no standard answer and depend on context; 4) point out the three I am most likely to answer wrongly; 5) give a self-check: let each answer face one adversarial follow-up. Do not give me a tutorial outline.
Site original
Chinese original
How to use
能写出 FAQ，说明你知道别人会卡在哪。
Try tweaking it
- Ask for one diagnostic question first to locate where you are stuck.
- Replace "explain it" with "give three progressive exercises; correct me after I answer".
What you should get
- A diagnosis of exactly where you are stuck
- A small set of self-checkable exercises
Common mistakes
- Asking it to explain from scratch, and still not knowing where you went wrong.
- Memorising the explanation as the answer, then failing on any variant.
How to check the output
- It names exactly where you are stuck instead of re-explaining everything.
- Exercises are graded and self-checkable.
Where it works
- Good for: diagnosing where you are stuck, then giving the smallest exercise instead of a lecture.
- Watch out: ask it to flag uncertainty rather than memorising a confident but wrong explanation.