As someone who teaches beginning Ruby and Rails workshops. I often find the limiting factor in getting to where students want to go is comfort with Ruby itself,

As someone who teaches beginning Ruby and Rails workshops. I often find the limiting factor in getting to where students want to go is comfort with Ruby itself, Rails automates so many of the early details that knowing a little bit more about what Ruby is doing can be phenomenally enabling. By all means learn both at once, but stay just a little ahead in your Ruby skills. The Ruby Koans is great for solidifying Ruby concepts glossed over in Rails. http://rubykoans.com http://rubykoans.com