Jonathan,
You can't really learn much about the wind until you can forget about your boat. When you can do all the mechanical things on your boat instinctively and without looking at blocks and lines -- when you basically can sail your boat blindfolded -- then you will be free to look around at the water and watch what is happening with the wind. You will notice the patches of darker water coming toward you and the angle at which they are coming and how it fans out. You will notice the directions of the little riffles on that patch of water that are coming from a different direction than the water around it. You will be able to pay attention to cloud formations and to land influences.

When you get your head out of the boat, you have the rest of your life to explore the world of wind shifts -- and even the best of sailors have never completely mastered it.