Query : How do one learn natural language processing from scratch?
Answer :
Learn in a classical way: 1. Introduction to information retrieval (Manning ) 2. Foundation of Statistical Natural language processing (Manning )
Those both books from Manning will give you base and cover all the topics needed. Apart from that if you want you can cover a course of Natural language processing by Pushpak Bhattacharyya on nptel .
Now best way to test your understanding is build something. Use python and other framework to build something using NLP techniques.
Example: 1. A sentiment analysis application 2. Document classifier 1. May be try with all of your PDF file and see if that worked well. 2. Or may be organise your bookmarks into refined categories. 3. Q&A Based Application
Bottom line is “Research in NLP is already rich” and best way to reach up to the standards is to read other’s paper and try to implement it. For better understanding in sentiment analysis, please go through a very helpful case study here .
References:
- Introduction to Information Retrieval
- Foundations of Statistical Natural Language Processing
- NPTEL Course
- Microsft’s Survey of Using DNN in NLP
Good luck.
Original Discussion : Quora