A schematic is not a picture of a circuit. It is a map of what connects to what. The position of a symbol on the page says nothing about where the part sits on the board, and once that idea settles, schematics stop looking like a foreign language.
Lines and dots
A line is a wire. Where lines meet with a dot, they are joined. Where two lines cross with no dot, they pass over each other without touching. Short labels on a wire, such as +9V or GND, mean it connects to every other point carrying the same label.
The symbols you need first
- Resistor: a zigzag, or a plain rectangle in European drawings.
- Capacitor: two parallel plates. A curved plate or a + sign marks a polarised one.
- Diode and LED: a triangle pointing at a bar. Current flows in the direction the triangle points. An LED adds two small arrows for light.
- Transistor: a circle with three leads. The arrow sits on the emitter.
- Battery: long and short parallel lines. The long line is positive.
- Ground: a stack of shrinking horizontal lines.
Labels
Each part carries a reference such as R1, C2, D1 or Q1, and a value such as 10k or 100µF. The reference ties the symbol to the parts list.
How to read one
By convention the positive supply runs along the top, ground along the bottom, and signals move left to right. Find the power connections first, then follow the signal from input to output. Our page on The Code goes through the markings in more detail.
If you want the fundamentals in one place, with hand-drawn diagrams, start with Getting Started in Electronics, or browse all four books.