Should shifting be done directly to the gear or first to neutral and then to the gear?

[Mia]

In fact, during driving school, the instructor said that whether shifting to first gear or second gear, you should always return to the neutral position first, and then select the gear you want to engage. However, when actually driving on the road, the operation feels different. Am I doing it wrong? Actually, when shifting between first and second gear, you can directly pull back, or as learned in driving school, return to neutral before shifting. Both methods are acceptable, mainly depending on which one you are accustomed to. When shifting a manual transmission, is it necessary to return to neutral? For vehicles where the gear lever has 1, 3, 5 on top and 2, 4, R at the bottom, the specific situation is as follows: When switching between forward gears and reverse gear, you need to return to the neutral position; when shifting from 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th, or 4th to 5th, the gear lever will pass through the neutral position, but theoretically, it is not necessary to return to neutral; shifting from 1st to 2nd usually involves pulling the gear lever down to 2nd gear without passing through neutral. In general, direct shifting is possible. The main difference between directly pulling back to shift and first returning to neutral before shifting is the speed of the shift. The advantage of directly pulling back to shift is that it is very fast, reducing speed loss and thus achieving some fuel-saving effects. However, this operation is not beneficial for the transmission. Additionally, when shifting without moving the gear lever to the left, it may return to the neutral position, making it easier to engage the wrong gear when pulling directly back.