# NFT Learning Roadmap: Beginner to Competent in 4 Weeks > A free, sequenced path from knowing nothing about NFTs to being competent — about three hours of reading over four weeks, plus one cheap transaction. Source: https://thenftacademy.com/roadmap Site: The NFT Academy (https://thenftacademy.com) --- Four weeks · about 3 hours of reading ## From nothing to *competent*. A sequenced path using only free material. The order matters more than it looks — security comes before doing anything, and doing something cheap comes before understanding the economics, because abstractions stick better after you’ve used them. 1. 1 · Week 1 · ~35 minutes ### Know what you’re dealing with Goal: You can explain what an NFT is to someone else, including what you don’t own when you buy one. - [Read: What are NFTs, actually? The concept, the standards, and the honest state of the market.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/what-are-nfts) - [Read: Web3 explained What the surrounding vocabulary means once the marketing is removed.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/web3-explained) - [Skim: the glossary You don’t need to memorise it. You need to know it exists.](https://thenftacademy.com/glossary) Check yourself: Can you say, in one sentence, what you own when you own an NFT, and what you don’t? 2. 2 · Week 2 · ~50 minutes ### Learn the security before you hold anything Goal: You’ve a wallet set up correctly and you can recognise the main attacks. - [Read: storing NFTs safely Seed phrases, hot and cold separation, approvals.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/how-to-store-nfts-safely) - [Read: scams and red flags Each attack, mechanically. The highest-value reading on this site.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/nft-scams-and-red-flags) - [Do: set up a wallet Write the recovery phrase on paper. Restore it once to check you copied it correctly.](https://thenftacademy.com/compare/crypto-wallets) Check yourself: Could you explain why a request for setApprovalForAll during a free mint is a warning sign? 3. 3 · Week 3 · ~1 hour ### Make one transaction, cheaply Goal: You’ve minted or bought something on a layer 2 for a few cents, and seen the whole flow. - [Read: how to create and mint Chain choice, metadata, storage — the part that determines whether it survives.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/how-to-create-an-nft) - [Do: mint something on a layer 2 Base or Polygon. A few cents. Your own file, so there’s nothing to verify.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/how-to-create-an-nft) - [Read: how to buy an NFT Read it even if you don’t intend to buy — the verification steps are the lesson.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/how-to-buy-nfts) Check yourself: Did you check your token renders on a marketplace other than the one you minted on? 4. 4 · Week 4 · ~45 minutes ### Fees, royalties, tax and what you actually keep Goal: You can work out the real economics of a trade, and you know what records to keep. - [Read: royalties explained Why the 5% often doesn’t arrive.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/nft-royalties-explained) - [Read: NFT taxes Including the trap of paying with appreciated crypto.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/nft-taxes-guide) - [Do: run a trade through the calculator Find the break-even price. It’s higher than you expect.](https://thenftacademy.com/tools/nft-profit-calculator) Check yourself: Do you know what your break-even sell price is on something you hold, including gas on both sides? 5. 5 · Then · Open-ended ### Pick a direction Goal: You’ve the fundamentals. What comes next depends on what you want. - [Developer: smart contracts explained Then Solidity, then Ethernaut before anything you write holds value.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/smart-contracts-explained) - [Creator: where the demand went More useful right now than any launch playbook.](https://thenftacademy.com/learn/nft-utility-and-gaming) - [Structure: pick a course If you want someone pacing you through the next part.](https://thenftacademy.com/tools/course-quiz) Check yourself: You’re past the point where a beginner course would teach you anything new. ### Common questions ##### How long does this actually take? About three and a half hours of reading spread over four weeks, plus one transaction. You could compress it into a weekend, but spacing it out works better — the security habits in particular need time to become habits rather than facts you read once. ##### Do I need to spend any money? A few cents, for one transaction on a layer 2 network. That’s the whole cost. Everything else here is free, and the one paid step is optional. ##### Why is security in week two rather than later? Because losses happen to beginners, not experts. The attacks target people who don’t yet know what a normal transaction request looks like, which is exactly the window this roadmap is designed to get you through safely. ##### Should I buy a course instead? A good $12 course buys you structure and someone pacing you. This roadmap is that structure, for free. If you’ve started and abandoned self-directed learning before, a course may genuinely suit you better — that’s a real difference, not a failing. After the roadmap ### Then, if you want *structure*. Once you’ve done all of the above, a course is no longer filling a gap in your knowledge — it’s buying you a structured path through the next part. That’s a good reason to buy one, and a different reason from the one most people start with. [See the ranking](https://thenftacademy.com/courses/best-nft-courses) [Or keep it free](https://thenftacademy.com/courses/free-nft-courses)