Like how the do you “do” historical materialism? Or dialectical materialism? How the fuck do I look at a problem and then apply this method? What are the steps? Why is it so difficult to learn left theory? I feel like I have to fight people to learn because the first thing anyone will do is throw jargon at me. Like imagine you're trying to learn physics and everyone says you start by reading Einstein as if a beginner would even be able to understand what Einstein is saying, who he is responding to, what the concepts in his work are.
At some point once you think you understand a concept you actually try your hand at it. If you're studying calculus you'll do a bunch of problem sets and that actually helps you understand what it is that you're doing, how mistakes happen, and how to get better. How do I practice this skill? Every suggestion I see basically amounts to: read lots of stuff. And I don't see how this is different than just being a lib and reading a bunch of stuff and popping off with hot takes
Edit: kind of confused that there are lots of responses but no answer.
I liked Lenin's statistical columns about people. But honestly there are a few points where Marxist principles of understanding shine through. I non ironically suggest watching the Kapital anime, but more important read the statistics (or the one I found, but not the one I meant here ) and then look at a point in history you like. E.g. South African history.
There you can see how economic forces shape society, shape policy and how stuff intersects. The gold mines of Gauteng (think Johannesburg / Pretroi) and the demand for labour it produced. Look at how the government introduced legislation that was benefiting which class / racialized group. Then you see that there were also conflicts within the capitalist classes, but there was more class solidarity. You can see how the state and military and police was used to further economic interests. You can see how Pinkerton equivalents used force and no liberal was to hear criticizing them materially for over a century. You can see how some of the brightest people of the last millennium who were academically thought with christian humanist values were ignored in South Africa, in the UK and alike and that such idealist thought doesn't hold against the forces of history - which often stem in the dominant amount from economics or at least the material conditions to be found. Look how solidarity of the working class was important to organize and formulate protest and how a wide mix furthered with a good amount of Marxist understanding, of Black Consciousness, of militant action was able to crush the Apartheid state.
Like really, the so called imperial periphery got so many people who looked at material conditions and wrote their thoughts - while being involved in practices. They are a good way to further your understanding.