How to Learn to Code

Read it. Ruby is about as WYSIWYG as it gets, especially when it's written elegantly. Even if you can't understand it all, become familiar with it. It'll sink in.

Translate it. Once you've read it, describe it. This helps when talking with other engineers, and when searching for help.

Test it. Write tests to make sure the code does what it says. Better yet, write the tests first!

Break it. Sabotage your code and see if the tests notice; test the tests. Breaking things is a path to learning.

For more, please refer to The Pragmatic Programmer.