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Top 10 Skill Improvement Courses on Kanopy

by Lisa Brennan

Our video-streaming service Kanopy provides access to Great Courses in everything from photography to cooking to art and everything you ever may need to learn!

Not sure where to start? Take a look at our top ten:

Practice painting in the company of an award-winning artist and professor. Not only will you learn how to select tools and apply techniques, but you'll develop the visual skills and muscle memory that make painting an infinitely adaptable form of artistic expression. These 24 lessons feature hands-on demonstrations that bring the art school experience into your own home.

Drawing is one of humanity's oldest forms of expression, with existing examples dating back an astonishing 80,000 years or more. Older than written language by tens of thousands of years, drawing developed across millennia, forming the base of many of the world's artistic traditions.

Improve and enhance your public-speaking skills with time-tested techniques and strategies used by Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and other great orators. Delivered by frequent lecturer and distinguished historian Professor John R. Hale, these 12 engaging and accessible lectures offer you helpful insights no matter who your audience is.

Any time you present yourself before others, your way of interacting with your listeners is equally as important as what you say. In 24 dynamic sessions, you'll learn how to present yourself successfully, practice exercises to develop physical and vocal freedom, and grasp how to keep your audience's attention. With the skills you'll develop, you can confidently offer your best self to the world.

Get a comprehensive, eye-opening, and illuminating survey of the entire writing process, as well as a full breakdown of how dozens of best-selling authors have implemented best practices in their own writing. As an aspiring author, you will gain a wealth of tools that will not only improve your ability to write, but will also increase your enjoyment of the craft.

Have you ever tried to learn another language, only to abandon your efforts due to boredom or frustration? In this highly effective course, we're pleased to present an approach that turns the tables on the problems so many people face in learning a new language. Experience the fastest and most direct way to get up and running with a beautiful and highly useful language. Learning Spanish: How to Understand and Speak a New Language offers you an exciting and practical way to quickly build the ability to communicate in Spanish.

Programming is an eminently learnable skill that gives you unrivalled problem-solving power you can apply in all areas of life. It's also a fun, creative activity that provides insight into how we control the devices that influence virtually every aspect of our lives. The 24 engaging and information-rich lessons of How to Program teach you one of the world's most accessible and powerful computer languages, Python.

In Learning French: A Rendezvous with French-Speaking Cultures, you will gain a practical, in-depth introduction to a beautiful language. 30 step-by-step lectures provide you with an effective and engaging means to grasp the core building blocks of French, while adding insight into the relationship between language and culture. Perfect for an upcoming trip or an armchair tourist.

The best way to learn any art form, including the art of photography, is by watching a master artist at work. By observing the creative process of a photographer who has truly mastered the trade, you can gain rich insight into how to approach your own images, boost your confidence as you work, and improve your photographs by learning skills that are rarely shared or taught in an ordinary classroom.

The guitar is one of the most accessible, versatile, and easy to learn instruments you can play. Get lessons and tips from expert, such as how a simple group of four guitar chords enables you to play hundreds of songs. Even if you already play the guitar, this course will broaden your knowledge by applying music theory, history, and expanding your repertoire of songs and styles.