How I taught myself to code | Litha Soyizwapi | TEDxSoweto

In this delightfully choreographed presentation, Litha Soyizwapi tells the story of how his innate curiosity and natural chutzpah led him initially into graphic design and then, remarkably, onto a path where he taught himself to code and ultimately create one of the most successful apps in South Africa.
Litha Soyizwapi is a graphic designer and a self-taught app developer. His popular GauRider app is the quickest and most elegant way to manage commutes on Gautrain-the rapid transit railway system linking Johannesburg, Pretoria and OR Tambo International Airport in Gauteng Province, South Africa.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at ted.com/tedx

[@TechubberBlogspotTechBlog]

Valuable message in this presentation - Learn the basics. Learn by doing. Apply Knowledge. Thanks for sharing.

[@BiMiHi]

Thank you my good man

[@Johnwww07]

Techubber - Tech Blog learn the basics. basics++ learn the basics

[@vineethvictor4646]

Techubber - Tech Blog I

[@kempoutzzz]

It's funny how these same basic concepts keep popping up over the centuries of human life, but we don't really get them...

[@wintatsehaye6440]

awesome!!!!!!

[@pratipsarkar8921]

When we learning something new we have got a tendency to jump to the cool part, a tendency to ignore the process but i think understanding the process that means ... you can create products that can have lasting values.. I think learning the basics means that u can break things apart and put them back together again...

[@kalebk480]

i just found this as a pretty underrated comment. . ."a tendency to ignore the process". . .

[@NelsonMandelaUniversity]

Well done Litha - your university is proud of you!

[@MsGnor]

Me too!!! Watching this in London. Inspired by Litha - your perseverance, determination, and open mind. Well done :)

[@smithconnie07]

Inspirational, Indeed!! 3 things we all should remember: Learn the basics...Learn by doing...And, Apply knowledge!!! simple and true.👍

[@MAGAMAN]

Most important thing to remember. Your race and color don't matter! Work hard and you can do anything you want. If you don't succeed, you didn't want it bad enough.

[@Dotrade]

learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist.

[@Dotrade]

One year letter i am still watching it again ,,,,and again

[@AbhyudaySinghabdy]

One year and you're still struggling with basic English.

[@saultube44]

Awesome!

[@rockyjames9836]

Mr Abhyuday Singh.... It is easy to criticize anyone,but need an open and kind heart to appreciate and respect others.Try to develop that first.....

[@MicheleBize]

is Picasso ...Picasso said this quote

[@great5610]

I'm Inspired to learn coding too...Great and humble presentation

[@kolyxix]

I too was a graphic design, currently re-learning programming. I see myself in you.

[@waellerbe]

I have the greatest respect for *Litha's* story of how he taught himself to program. It's also encouraging to see how his exposure to maps and Geography at an early age played a big role in his learning experience. This is one success story that I will appreciate for many years to come. #LithaSoyizwapi

[@LegendColgo]

This is so beautifully said, people make things so big while they dont understand the concepts first, learn basics, do the basics, that's it, stop making it like a big thing. While doing the basics there are multiple ways you can do them in programming languages, keep adding stuff to it and that's it!

[@bijithlalap]

I hate the viewers, he deserves more claps.. Thank you

[@penielchery2765]

You are Funny

[@xray6016]

In Ted they comes to listen,it's not a entertainment show where people will shout, clap etc

[@JenTylerHooksnTales]

Brilliant!! So inspiring. And this is relevant to me as a Crochet "artist"! It's been said that learning Crochet is similar in process to coding. I started three years ago and now I'm about to branch out as a crochet designer. There have been times I wanted to stab myself with my crochet hook, donate my yarn to charity and forget all about it. But I am absolutely PASSIONATE about this art-craft form. I wake up in the middle of the night, to crochet, because I HAVE TO finish a difficult piece and suddenly I have the solution. Everything you have said rings deeply true for me. Thank you!! Makers gonna Make, right!? :D

[@gbravy]

And the makers gonna make, make, make, make, make..

[@Randomcooking]

Jen Tyler I am wicked I laughed whe u said you wanted to stab yourself with crochet 😂😂😂 subscribe to my channel and I will do the same thanks

[@suvraneelsaha8973]

great

[@sachinashtikar7007]

Accidently clicked and got jackpot. He is great. Done great job through the speech.

[@ganyobiniiakwei5516]

I am a self taught programmer and yet every single day i keep learning towards being better at that ... i really do well in PHP and JAVASCRIPT....I started with HTML 5 and CSS3 and being at it for the past 3 years... this video really inspired me and taught me how to look at programming in a different way

[@hurdaaye]

I completed the basics of HTML and CSS and now I'm leaning JavaScript and I'm doing this only the last three months what advice would you give me?

[@Johnwww07]

KSP Multimedia i second that. cant stress enough on supplements

[@dirisuisahadinoyi2944]

Can one learn php without html or css

[@sudiplamichhane6965]

first you need to have basic concept of html

[@Srivaishnavas]

A thoughtful presentation.... the tone that talks to inner mind... He is calm in expressions with no rushing thoughts. Good job sir.

[@mpumelelolindanimchunu746]

i'm just inspired by the this guys.., Litha Syizwapi , I never knew that TEDxSOWETO is happening

[@skybasquez6688]

Really enjoyed this! I'm in the process of learning JavaScript myself! He gave me some great ideas of where to seek some more knowledge!

[@SrdjanRepensek]

Well done Litha Soyizwapi, great inspiration. Thanks!

[@mohanmenon1300]

Very inspirational. Will help many young to overcome their fears and doubts

[@anuragsakure3351]

This is the best speech i ever heard.

[@Toluwase1000]

Learn the basics. Learn by doing. Apply Knowledge.

[@YoungDen]

Underrated comment here

[@wintatsehaye6440]

IDEALISM!!!!!!! u r what i call inspiration, just amazing!

[@Brainbuster]

Play at 1.5x playback speed. ;)

[@abbreviateTome]

nice time management Hack ;)

[@zhin4362]

_Genius_ :D

[@kevinrego9901]

Good advice but 1.25 feels more ''natural'' :)

[@ExploreLearnEnglishWithGeorge]

I just noticed I've made the same comment lol

[@xtianhdz]

how?

[@kiarasmith8549]

So happy to see South Africa 🇿🇦 👏🏾

[@lovely31bluprint]

Peace and blessings. Thank you for your inspirational words.

[@sinduravishnu8306]

Awesome way of learning using three pillars -learn the basics, learn by doing and apply knowledge

[@jalapenohiway]

Thank you for sharing your story & experiences. Congrats on the success of your app my friend!

[@thedarkie1]

Kudos to you man, keep up the good work. Inspirational 🙌🏿

[@HP-vy6is]

I am really want to be Machine learning engineer in months, So I will be dedicating 1 hour/ day to programming before breakfast....daily :)....Thanks for motivating, Mr. Litha Soyizwapi

[@NKNKNKILLER]

Not enough. Programming sessions take some time. better to invest 3 hours every 3 days.

[@user-xp5or3fg9b]

NOW ONE YEAR AFTER SAYING WHAT YOU SAID DID YOU REACH YOU GOAL?

[@murad4485]

don't burn your self dude..

[@rban123]

To get to the level of machine learning engineer will most likely require many years of intense studying

[@SkyHermit]

How are you doing now?

[@forty2329]

I watch MIT courses too... glad I do that.

[@manishsubbu216]

From where do u watch plzzz say me too

[@ramesh.programming]

@@manishsubbu216 KZbin

[@mainakmaity1422]

MIT openware

[@fikinaturally_fikiswa2925]

whoaw to think I am passing through his home town when travelling to my village and not even once imagining there are people like him who comes from there - so proud and truly inspired. Lord maybe he can help with my idea after all - all of a sudden it's not such a far fetched dream at all

[@bernardsebothoma4866]

....Da Lithas! Your presentation is an inspiration to many....Thank you so much for sharing such inspiring piece....

[@Erik-yx2pj]

This guy is fantastic. Im currently teaching myself the Python language so a talk like this is just what I needed. I know what I want to do with it, just not how to do it at this point. I am on the road to getting there so its great to hear success stories.

[@Kinoti9]

Hey man how is that going? I am also learning and in less than 2 months I want to be somewhere tangible.

[@fadeandbraid8321]

I'm learning too yippeeee

[@johnfedorov8089]

@@Kinoti9 Where are you now? What did you do with your knowledge

[@Kinoti9]

@@johnfedorov8089 I actually finished one of the longest tutorial I was taking yesterday. So I have an e-commerce project am working on currently and yeah that's where am at the moment. How about you man?

[@HoangNguyen-pv6fz]

@@Kinoti9 Sincerely curious. How are you with your coding journey now?

[@_yatab_]

So inspired to start something. Great journey to learn from!

[@pasteros]

This is so encouraging. Thank you for sharing.

[@misslynda82]

Thanks! This year I want to learn to code. It's the way of the future

[@hasanjoumaa7887]

Yeah did u?😂

[@misslynda82]

I've started!

[@hasanjoumaa7887]

I am now trying to start.i am trying to finding a way to start learning (I still didnt watch this video the internet is extremely slow right now its not opening):p

[@hasanjoumaa7887]

Thank you.any more advices?beacause i have zero information about coding!

[@musab1223]

so did u

[@n.chambers2828]

Love the video. Learn by doing, apply knowledge and start at the basics. Thank you for your insight and inspiration.

[@mmaphefokefilwe4382]

Wow! I'm inspired...well done.

[@relaxation2526]

Moving deeply my soul. Excellent presentation.

[@TruthofDilly]

Thank you for this…I was feeling discouraged but going to keep going , you made me want to keep going. Thank you 🙏🏽 😊👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽

[@ungurunelu13]

Extremely simple, very powerful! I picked up an apple - like vibe in terms of presentation but with much richer content. Congratulations !

[@justsimple6333]

Am humbled and impressed

[@tolah8525]

very inspiring specialy to us jnr programers

[@Devrhoid]

Thank you for sharing this. I appreciate the lessons.

[@selemamolopa8487]

Very impressive. We will share this to many young people. We need more this stories.

[@juliel759]

beautiful and encouraging. Thank you

[@Dotrade]

what a great presentation it really inspires every student

[@josephsm4661]

Appreciate his clarity about " Learning process", and he proved it himself and to people around the world by building relevant and useful app

[@ChroniclesofAJ]

Great video

[@lubabaloboya5092]

Wow. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@kelvinesekon6074]

i like this presentation Mr. Litha........thumb up!

[@andilerodney7215]

this is amazing thank you

[@sanpwel]

So inspiring... Awesome presentation!

[@motheralice9371]

Appreciate your video, Thank you for sharing it.

[@GoodConversations273]

I'm very inspired by this, although i am a bit nervous on trying to learn code. I feel that with determination you can change the world now thanks Litha for the inspiration God Bless!

[@atomm7316]

LeGNd GaME First ask yourself this. Do I love to code? Do I feel this is not a job, but a passion?

[@revywild]

I was so proud of myself for going through the rigours of bootacmap, then job applying like crazy, then getting a job. But THIS DUDEEE!!!! make my jaws drop XD.

[@mudewitz]

Simply well said. Thank you

[@ntoshndamase7348]

Than Litha this is so inspiring

[@ratelhoneybadger]

Indeed "the Light"😊

[@fabischclinton8837]

very lovely presenation

[@josephthecreator]

Valuable talk, thank you!

[@ntobekodube2081]

Inspiring...Thanks man

[@sangharramesh]

Really awesome speech

[@AliKhan-zw2ni]

Great message for every one

[@TechInsiderSolution]

Very inspirational !

[@wahinenuiloa]

Started off kinda slow but this turned out to be one of the best TED talks Iʻve watched. He should have started the talk with the Picasso quote. His thoughts really put things into perspective for me - a 51 year old professor.

[@gogipbhal4101]

amazing inspiration

[@williamchangco833]

what a intelligent person very well

[@alitanwir3372]

Excellent talk

[@venkateshbattula98]

wow really inspirational

[@ziintle]

The only ted talk that matters to me. It literally changed my life and the way I think. Edit: and Hans Rosling’s

[@RashawMusic]

Amazing Ted Talk!👍💪

[@happythoughts5872]

Good inspirations! Thanks...

[@TheCreeperRealm]

True Inspiration!

[@princealmighty5391]

Douglas Block u have issues get lost

[@XxelitebeautyxX]

Nice story, I am also learning how to code.. Its fun !

[@justinshort3296]

+namit saxena How is the coding going? I am also trying to learn how to code but I really don't know where to start, do you know of any good sites? What programming language are you learning?

[@XxelitebeautyxX]

Justin I am learning C++ and my target is to start HTML by next year. Can we talk on facebook? I can easily help you there. facebook.com/namit2saxena My ID.

[@liizzset]

+namit saxena You guys tried w3Schools for HTML5 and newboston channel for C++ and Java. Just a channel and website I remembered off the top of my head. I have learnt some but most of my code from these and other sources. Also Coursera.com can help. Plus the sites Treehouse and Lynda. The first one is free i.e. Coursera. Also Codeacademy.com and KhanAcademy.

[@rotrooney]

+Justin Short What language are your learning?

[@TheHackerProtocol]

+namit saxena Try Khanacademy or code.org :))

[@hleet]

Great inspiration !

[@sebastienngaruiya189]

coders are the rockstars of the 21st centuary

[@gea303]

Soo inspiring.

[@android-mad]

LEARN THE RULES LIKE A PRO, SO YOU CAN BREAK THEM LIKE AN ARTIST.

[@sal191_]

Inspiring

[@leo-rq2ei]

great presentation!

[@thewatch01983]

Excellent!

[@leereedembroidery]

Thank you!

[@OusmaneDiallo-cu6tc]

Your story is inspireing

[@victorvandyke9898]

Brilliant!

[@rons3699]

Litha, your very inspiring :::)))

[@jc9101]

I am into IT Infrastructure and I've got 9 years of rich Infra experience. I quit my job to learn new technologies. I often get low, feel discouraged and battle with my own mind for quitting the job, but I am not taking my decision back. You have helped me to see what I was missing! This is awesome. I am not a quick learner and I spend significant amount of time in learning basics - that's what I believe in. If you know the rules (basics), you can play like a professional.

[@user-yk5xu8gr1e]

Hey Dream Big ..how are you doing now....found any success....do reply if u see this 🙂 maybe u found a job? started a business?

[@jc9101]

@@user-yk5xu8gr1e Thanks for checking. I am doing fantastic now. I work for a multinational company and I've been the top performer for the last two years. I genuinely like what I do. I am still learning. How're you doing?

[@user-yk5xu8gr1e]

@@jc9101 Awesome! Im happy to read you made good progre ss and ur gamble paid off 😀 I am in the struggling phase it took me years to find my feet because of a horrible childhood. But I am trying to get there....with a bad childhood thingd just become ten times more difficult. Thanks for asking 😊

[@jc9101]

@@user-yk5xu8gr1e Things are gonna be fine. You need to believe in yourself. Spend time with God. I didn't have a good childhood either. My parents struggled to afford my tuition fee and we never had any fancy food during my childhood. Things have changed now. Just believe in yourself and do what's right. Your hardwork will surely pay off. Be strong and don't give up.

[@georgemaredi5771]

Really enjoyed the video. I hope we too, can change the world.

[@JustMe-rl5ym]

Wow, thank you.

[@HowTo5min-co3ni]

Awesome speech "Always learn the basis"

[@sukhino4475]

Beautiful

[@user-xp5or3fg9b]

VERY INSPIRING

[@skkettch]

Respect my bro

[@okkami676]

I don't know why I keep thinking of Snoop Dog....

[@Music-mi5gg]

Chris Bosh + Snoop

[@alphafox1307]

Ok kami snoop dogg, the inventor of sharp Rolling code++

[@gilang8323]

damn

[@nottobe2916]

Thank you! It was killing me not recognizing how I know him.

[@memsdr]

Lol

[@alfeyo]

Would love to meet this guy supper cool

[@akarsh8277]

excellent...

[@pianopov7933]

Like it a lot!

[@donblack1571]

This was awesome

[@worksmart9829]

That last quote was sick

[@matthewws5694]

Great video. Inspired

[@theaminswey9733]

You go, bro!