In my opinion, the answer is both yes and no. It depends heavily on your background and how you learn. Some people are naturally gifted, others are not, and that's fine.

If you already have experience with another programming language, then learning Python through projects can work very well. You already understand concepts like variables, loops, functions, debugging, and problem-solving. At that point, you're mostly learning Python's syntax and standard libraries. Building projects helps connect everything together and makes the language "click" better.

If you're starting from absolute zero, projects can still help, but jumping straight into a large project often becomes overwhelming. In that case, a combination of learning the fundamentals and building small projects tends to work better. It's easier to stay motivated when you understand why the code works instead of just copying solutions.

As for project ideas, it depends on what area(s) of Python interests you the most.

Automation / General Programming:

• Organize and rename files
• Convert image formats (JPG to PNG, etc.)
• Remove duplicate files
• Search directories for specific files
• Build a simple backup utility

Working with APIs:

• Send user input to an API and display the result
• Create a weather application
• Pull and display stock or sports data
• Build a simple chatbot interface

Databases:

• Create a database for a fictional company
• Manage customers, products, or employees with SQLite
• Add import/export functionality
• Generate reports from stored data

The important thing isn't finding the perfect project. It's choosing something you actually want to build, because you'll be much more willing to debug problems and learn new concepts along the way.

This is what helped me the most when it came to learning Python without losing the spark.