The first thing you need to learn, are the directions. North,
South, East and West. Look at the figure and learn how they
are. North is the most important. But if you don't want to go north, but a different direction? Hang
on and I'll tell you.
You've got this turnable thing on your compass. We call
it the Compass housing. On the edge of the compass housing, you will
probably have a scale. From 0 to 360 or from 0 to 400. Those are the degrees or
the azimuth (or you may also call it the bearing in some contexts). And
you should have the letters N, S, W and E for North, South, West and East. If
you want to go in a direction between two of these, you would combine them. If
you would like to go in a direction just between North and West, you simply say:
"I would like to go Northwest ".
Let's use that as an example: You want to go northwest. What you do,
is that you find out where on the compass housing northwest is. Then you turn
the compass housing so that northwest on the housing comes exactly there where
the large direction of travel-arrow meets the housing. 
Hold the compass in your
hand. And you'll have to hold it quite flat, so that the compass needle can
turn. Then turn yourself, your hand, the entire compass, just make sure the
compass housing doesn't turn, and turn it until the compass needle is aligned
with the lines inside the compass housing.
Now, time to be
careful!. It is extremely important that the red, north part
of the compass needle points at north in the compass housing. If south points at
north, you would walk off in the exact opposite direction of what you
want! And it's a very common mistake among beginners. So always take a
second look to make sure you did it right!A second problem might be local
magnetic attractions. If you are carrying something of iron or something like
that, it might disturb the arrow. Even a staple in your map might be a problem.
Make sure there is nothing of the sort around. There is a possibility for
magnetic attractions in the soil as well, "magnetic deviation", but they
are rarely seen. Might occur if you're in a mining district.
When you are sure you've got it right, walk off in the direction the
direction of travel-arrow is pointing. To avoid getting off the course, make
sure to look at the compass quite frequently, say every hundred meters at
least.
But you shouldn't stare down on the compass. Once you have the
direction, aim on some point in the distance, and go there. But this gets more
important when you use a map.
There is something you should look for to avoid going in the opposite direction: The Sun. At noon, the sun is roughly in South (or in the north on the southern hemisphere), so if you are heading north and have the sun in your face, it should ring a bell.
When do you need this technique?
If you are out there without
a map, and you don't know where you are, but you know that there is a road,
trail, stream, river or something long and big you can't miss if you go in the
right direction. And you know in what direction you must go to get there, at
least approximately what direction.
Then all you need to do, is to turn the
compass housing, so that the direction you want to go in, is where the direction
of travel-arrow meets the housing. And follow the above steps.
But why isn't
this sufficient? It is not very accurate. You are going in the right direction,
and you won't go around in circles, but you're very lucky if you hit a small
spot this way. And that's why I'm not talking about declination here. And
because that is something connected with the use of maps. But if you have a
mental image of the map and know what it is, do think about it. But I think you
won't be able to be so accurate so the declination won't make a difference.
If you are taking a long hike in unfamiliar terrain, you should always carry a good map that covers the terrain. Especially if you are leaving the trail. It is in this interaction between the map and a compass, that the compass becomes really valuable. And that is dealt with in lesson 2.