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I've had this silly obsession for a while: I can't seem to find a proper phrase in English that is as expressive and 'colorful' as the idiom in my native language that describes learning a new skill by watching someone else doing it, without being actively/intentionally trained how to do it.
In my native language (Romanian) we have a fura meserie — it literally means 'to steal someone's trade'.
Is there an English equivalent? This question has been bugging me a bit more that it should.
In the business context the phrase often used to convey this meaning is:
the activity of spending time with someone who is doing a particular job so that you can learn how to do it: You need to get quality work experience or do some work shadowing. - Cambridge.
Where the word shadow expresses the idea that you follow the person you are learning from like a shadow to observe what they are doing.
Job shadowing and work shadowing are two phrases used interchangeably:
Job shadowing allows the observer to see and understand the nuances of a particular job. The job shadowing employee is able to observe how the employee does the job, the key deliverables expected from the job, and the employees with whom the job interacts.
-- from the article: Job Shadowing Is Effective On-the-Job Training at thebalance.com
Monkey see, monkey do is colorful whose main meaning is the imitation of another person's actions simply by observation and copying but with no understanding.
Copying the behaviour of another without reason or understanding.
(Collins)
Since it is used for rote imitation, bypassing the understanding process, it is often applied to children or, in a pejorative way, to adults.
So, it is not a compliment. Although it can be used humorously to apply to a given situation.
"Monkey see, monkey do" is a traditional phrase used for commenting on someone's (often a child's) tendency to imitate whatever he or she sees someone else doing. Eric Partridge, "A Dictionary of Catch Phrases American and British," calls it a Canadian and U.S. catchphrase originating about 1925, "by c. 1950, also English, but . . . [used] rather to describe the learning of a a [sic] process, which, although performed thereafter with reasonable competence, is never actually understood."
But it can also mean, more generally, to learn something by observation, as in:
Over twenty years ago, a team of scientists, led by Giacomo Rizzolatti at the University of Parma, discovered special brain cells, called mirror neurons, in monkeys. These cells appeared to be activated both when the monkey did something itself and when the monkey simply watched another monkey do the same thing.
For the construction of the sentence, see Why Do We Say "Monkey See, Monkey Do"? at Behind the Dictionary.
Again, the phrase is usually pejorative, but it can be applied humorously.
There is an English idiom, to learn by osmosis.
This is, as you describe, to pick something up simply by observation and practice in the presence of an expert.
The idiom is most frequently encountered when discussing the learning of a language. Simply being around native speakers results in learning by osmosis. Note that it does not imply that the learning is strictly accurate.
There is a phrase
watch and learn
which is commonly said to the observer by the doer before they commence work.
It can also be used as a taunt when showing off to someone who has been unsuccessfully trying to do something.
There's no idiom for that. In that case, we usually use a phrasal verb:
pick something ↔ up
to learn something by watching or listening to other people
Definition and examples from Longman Dictionary
learn by imitation
I found this way of expressing the idea in the Wikipedia article on mirror neurons.
One colorful expression that is sometimes used in the sense of "learning by direct observation" is learning at the feet of the master—although the original image that the idiom invokes is of students gathered around a teacher for pedagogical instruction.
Here are a few instances where the expression seems to refer to prolonged direct observation rather than to completion of a formal curriculum of study or instruction. From Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Proceedings of the National Convention, volume 29 (1978) [combined snippets]:
So this might be a good time for me to introduce you to our National Counsel, Mike Brodie. I know a number of you have met him, either through arbitration or in the NLRB process, but for those of you who don't know, Mike was an associate of our first counsel, M.H. Goldstein, and as I like to say, he learned at the feet of the master.
From John Helyar, The Lords of the Realm: The Real History of Baseball (2011):
Pitcher John O'Donoghue had once agreed to contract terms by phone with A's G[enerl] M[anager] Eddie Lopat. The actual contract didn't arrive until spring training, and the salary figures in it were considerably less than discussed.
"But you agreed to a different figure on the phone," O'Donoghue said.
"Prove it," Lopat sneered.
Of course, Lopat had learned at the feet of the master George Weiss, GM of the Yankees' dynasty teams of the 1950s. More precisely, he'd been kicked by the feet of the master. As a Yankee pitcher, Lopat went 15–10 one year and got no raise because, according to Weiss, "You didn't pitch against contending clubs."
And from K.L. Montgomery, Fat Girl (2017):
"Some guys at school have been picking on me," he reveals. "Just calling me skinny and weak and stuff. Because gym class," he says, rolling his eyes, a maneuver he no doubt learned at the feet of the master.
I believe the whole phrase in Romanian is" meseria se fură, nu se învață". The closest I can think of is "job shadowing". Observe what other do without being noticed and pretend that you are not interested. Maybe a better term would be "Other Worker Spying" (OWS)? (because Americans love acronyms,ha,ha ;-)
Emulating .. when copying behaviour of respectable, acceptable or the gainful kind.
Aping ... when copying behaviour without attention to pros and cons.
As a musician we often refer to someone learning a tune "by ear" as opposed to someone who reads sheet music. In this case the observation is auditory, not visual (although I admit we sometimes watch the fingers.)
To copycat. After observing the masonry worker for an hour, John decided to copycat him and cancel the work order. (thereby saving money)
Second example, used as an adjective: The police doubt the most recent murders were from the original serial killer. Instead, they fear there is a copycat killer on the loose.
Generally, when someone is called a Quick Learner, it is implicit that the person learns by observation.
For people who learn quickly by working overtime (i.e. because of their efforts and not talent), they are called hardworking, dedicated etc.
There is a phrase which I believe originated in the military (during medical training) and which I encountered in professional school, which was "See one, do one, teach one." It means that you see a procedure done one time, then the next time you do that procedure yourself, and then the third time you can teach someone else how to do it. It's a frightening/nerve-wracking concept (for the patient as well as the trainee!) and was often used somewhat tongue-in-cheek when I heard it.
"Cargo cult" if you want something colorful. Based on the true story of South Pacific residents not understanding how the US WWII logistics supply chain worked, and performed superficial imitations of military operations, it can apply to cut n paste software developers.
