Chen Bin, who you may recognize from the Emacs and ErgoEmacs Google+ communities or from his blog, has an interesting essay on GitHub about how to master Emacs in a year. The essay is really the steps that Bin followed when he was learning Emacs. He has a lot of good advice and it’s well worth giving it a read, especially if you’re an Emacs n00b.
Old hands may or may not agree with everything he says but it’s all reasonable advice. He lists some good resources to help the beginner get up to speed. I’m always happy to see articles like this. They spread the word and help beginners learn about the glories of Emacs.