How do I know if I am improving?

I don't play RMM because I am only level 10. I haven't unlocked it yet. But, I want a way to see my MMR because I have no idea if I am improving or not. I feel like I am because at my level, the team isn't made of all carries anymore showing that I am playing with more competent players(I think). But I don't know for sure if I am getting any better.

Watch one of your past games. If you made a mistake that you recognize now but you didn't know that you made it then, means that you are improving.

But you can only watch games that are 8 days old. I don't think that 8 days is enough to see many improvements.

You will have to struggle for a while until you will have your own calculation of MMR, but it isn't the only factor that describes a player. I saw really bad players with 4k MMR and good players with 2k MMR. Make a promise you won't be bothered about it that much, ok? :)

In what terms you think you can improve? What is your Dota knowledge? That is something you can check. Like list 5 random heroes and try to explain all of their abilites. If you can't, read about them and make another list. You can do it as well with items. It helped me a lot. Decision making is probably the most important part in Dota, so knowing hero abilities perfectly is the key to feeling the game, not playing blindly. What I mean by that is, for example, you picked Sven and we know how this hero works. You walk in, stun people and attack them to death. What if there is Viper against you? He will slow you and kill you before you will be able to touch him. What you would like to do is to purchase a Blink Dagger, because you know how Poison Attack works. It will help you greatly with reaching that nasty beast.

There are tons of other examples, but generally improving your Dota knowledge helps a lot. Reflex, farming/denying ability, micro-management, map awareness is also very, very important but it will come naturally while playing. You can say that knowledge about heroes will come naturally, but it will cause you more time and pain.

Make yourself a quiz. They are also very popular on this site :).

Take care and I wish you good luck.

Actually, you can't download matches after a week (aside from tournament matches), but once downloaded, you can watch them no matter how old they are.

Wait until you have a match where you feel you did really well, watch it and confirm that you played really well. About a month or 3 later, go back and watch the replay again, you'll probably cringe at yourself every minute. That's how you know you're improving! 8{3

Pretty much, Ranked isn't the best way to evaluate how good you are. Looking back and learning from your mistakes gives you a better idea of how god you are, e.g. did you know that Pudge was coming to Gank you? Did you try to avoid him? Were there simply too many people there for you to be able to have done anything? Could you have avoided the 4-man Gank altogether, by leaving the Lane as soon as you noticed there were lots of people missing? etc.

There's also that ^

Yes, you are right. I was trying to make it more simple, but instead I made an unintended mistake.

We beleive you! *wink wink* ;{D

Alright thanks for the replies. I will keep them in mind. Based on what you guys said, it sounds like I still have a lot to learn with the many topics of Dota