Bridge is a very popular game. If you are a bridge player you are guaranteed a full and active social life.
I remember when I moved into my second flat. One of my neighbours stopped me in the hall way and asked if I played bridge. Back then I didn't, but I know now that playing, or learning to play, bridge is a great way of meeting new people.
I have been on two cruises - both had bridge sessions in the afternoons - a great way of meeting your fellow passengers on those boring days at sea between ports.
Many people learn to play bridge as a child. If you are brought up with bridge playing parents or grand parents then learning the bidding system and play just becomes a normal and easy thing to do.
Many other people learn to play bridge by attending classes. This is great if there are bridge classes in your local area. I live in a rural village. We do have a bridge club, but it isn't for complete beginners and there are no classes within easy reach.
There can be many reasons why you can't go to classes. Like me, there may not be classes in your local area. You might find that there are classes but they clash with another commitment. It's amazing how often you will find that all the activities you want to do take place on the same night!
Many classes take place during the day, which makes it impossible to attend if you are working or have child care or caring commitments.
You might find it hard to attend classes because of illness or disability. I have ME and my ability to attend any course of any kind is compromised. I can usually attend some of the classes, but with something like bridge classes once you have missed a session or you just fall behind your fellow class mates and get frustrated.
There is another way of learning. Find a good quality source of online bridge lessons. I was lucky to find just that. A site where you can start right at the beginning, as a complete beginner knowing nothing at all about bridge.
The joy of online bridge lessons is that the computer doesn't get bored and you can't fall behind your fellow classmates. You can repeat each lesson as many times as you want. You'd be amazed at how many times I go right back to the basic lessons to try to fix some of it in my sieve-like brain.
As you start to improve you might want to find a local, relaxed club that will allow improvers to join. I was recently surprised when a client of mine (I'm self-employed) told me about the bridge club he belongs to. He tried to persuade me to join. When I protested that I wasn't good enough he loaded a bridge playing program on his computer and asked me to bid a hand. I bid it correctly, and for all the right reasons. He got it wrong!
