[Anaiah]

Jaz's assessment is fairly right on, other than the speculation on the skills. Suffice it to say if you fail at something once or twice in an in-game day's time (90 minutes), you likely improved the skill marginally. The exact time can be shorter or longer, depending on your character's intelligence, but that's about the jist there. There's no need for grinding, though, so people don't often do it, if they understand how the skill advancement actually works.