I go advise newbies to just show up no matter how you feel about other users comment. Try login forum everyday if you fit make you dey learn some things from older members. My motivation when I be newbie na my first merit as I get am I come get more confidence to dey engage more for the forum na so I take reach this rank I dey today.
I agree with your tips to beginners to be active, since as the saying goes, we can never learn something without touching it in our daily lives. Like playground, the more you go to forums the more you learn. And that is the good thing is, here in spot like this, we can learn not only by theory but also by the experience of those that are in front of us who have gone before. The experience of starting to participate, ask questions and, occasionally, provide me with my most relevant answers started to build my confidence as I was once a mere reader who read behind the scene.
We need not fear being down judged. As a matter of fact, out of these little interactions, we may get numerous views that would never be through books or videos. In case you are confused, then that is no excuse not to say anything. Everybody requires a process and such a place can be a comfortable place when we are active together. It is not bad to share, since what you gave comes back, mostly in a better form.