I visited a very good german school in the 80s. We learned a lot of different things, we got a very broad tuition, known as "Allgemeinwissen", which I think is "common knowledge".

Early on, people said i got strengths in languages and arts, so  I always neglected the more scientific disciples.  I went on to make a very good examen on these topics.

Nowadays, I find I am lacking a lot of the principles of science. I am interested in quantum theory , in the relativtiy theory , superior dimensionsm etc. ..

I read books about these topics, but I lack the meanings of truly understanding them or following them. I cannot follow e.g. those equations for the relative theory, neither common or general.

The pity is , I had all those teachers at my disposal when I was young. They all would be very helpful, and steer me in the right direction. I was just lazy and maybe too much in my comfort zone.

Today you can learn a lot with the means of the internet. Right now, I am learning Italian by podcasts, Youtube and and downloaded pdf-grammar books. 

But there is  a lot a live teacher can give, that you don't have in the web, so that's my big regret!