In reply to sheelba:
After some thirty alpine seasons in various countries personally I still do a quick practice / reinforcement / trial of different strategies with whoever I am going to be climbing with. Often on a rainy day on Dartmoor, Wales, Lakes, Scotland. Obviously this is not a replacement for practicing on the real thing but is still valuable - especially if you have never done it before.
If you don't want to go to the expense of a personal guide you could join a course with a guide. Much more economical. You could find someone to teach you from a club etc. ( assuming they know what they are doing ) or you could get together with some mates and teach yourself from the excellent resources available in the UK first and then try out the skills on a dry and then a wet glacier.
One of the many key skills worth practicing on snow imo is how to set up an ice axe anchor whilst holding someone's weight on the rope and then attaching the rope to the belay. All fun.