--
I used to feel the same way. Now I'm in the field
full time after quite a bit of learning on my own.

The way I feel is that you can read volumes of books
and you won't get anything from them until you use it.
Try examples to get yourself familiar with the language.
Then, figure out your own problems so you know how to
approach and solve the problem.

What I mean is, some of the best "programmers" don't know
any code anymore, but they know the programming
structure well enough so code translation
is simple.
This many of us find to be
the hardest part.

I was told once by a wise person, that in IT, you
know you've learned something when you realize how much
you don't know. This is a good sign.

-felonious