spruce up readme

Author: tgvashworth

README.md

@@ -1,27 +1,40 @@
-# Go, go, go!
+![](./readme-assets/giphy.gif)
 
-A rapid(ish) introductory course to backend software engineering.
+# Let's go!
+
+An immersive, introductory course to backend software engineering using [go](https://go.dev).
 
 ## Requirements
 
-- You are familiar with the essentials of writing code in JavaScript
-- You have used JavaScript in the browser and in [Node][node]
-- You have completed the [Tour of Go][tourofgo]
+Before you start this course, there's a few things we assume you've done:
+
+- You're familiar with the essentials of writing code in JavaScript
+- You have experience with JavaScript in the browser and in [Node][node]
+- You've completed the [Tour of Go][tourofgo]
+
+This is important because we don't cover the basic language features of Go: you need to be familiar with writing Go functions and methods, plus the basics of types in Go. You'll also need to to navigate [packages and documentation](https://pkg.go.dev/).
 
-Remember you can _always_ Google or ask for help if you get stuck.
+Remember: you can _always_ Google or ask for help if you get stuck.
 
 ## Projects
 
-Each project has its own directory and a reference implementation on a branch, with an associated [Pull Request](https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/immersive-go-course/pulls).
+This course is structured into self-contained projects that you can work through at your own pace.
 
-- [CLI & Files](./cli-files) — `impl/cat-ls`
-- [Servers & HTTP requests](./http-auth) - `impl/http-auth`
-- [Servers & Databases](./server-database) - `impl/server-database`
+Each project has its own directory with a README.md file that has instructions. If you want to take a look at one way of completing an exercise, there's some code waiting in an associated [Pull Request](https://github.com/CodeYourFuture/immersive-go-course/pulls) for you to look at. Try not to copy!
+
+1. [CLI & Files](./cli-files) — `impl/cat-ls`
+   <br>An introduction to building things with Go by replicating the unix tools `cat` and `ls`.
+1. [Servers & HTTP requests](./http-auth) - `impl/http-auth`
+   <br>Learn about long-running processes, HTTP and `curl`.
+1. [Servers & Databases](./server-database) - `impl/server-database`
+   <br>Build a server that takes data from a database and serves it in `json` format.
 
 ## Authors
 
-Tom Ashworth
-Daniel Wagner-Hall
+- Tom Ashworth
+- Daniel Wagner-Hall
+
+Feel free to ask for help in the CYF Slack!
 
 [tourofgo]: https://go.dev/tour
 [node]: https://nodejs.org/en/