I recommend you start a side project of your own and learn by doing. start small, maybe some extra tools for your blog or a simple widget you've been wanting fo

I recommend you start a side project of your own and learn by doing. start small, maybe some extra tools for your blog or a simple widget you've been wanting for your desktop. python is a good intro language, you'll find it useful for a wide variety of projects and can go lower level for your next language