I agree with the last 2 posts. I think both C and/or Java are good languages to start with.

C is for the most part a subset of C++, so if you start there you will have a pretty good start on some of the basics of C++. This is not to say that C is an incomplete language of course. In fact, many consider C more efficient the C++. The object oriented (OO) features of C++ can lead to slower code. Buy the same token OO can greatly decrease the time you spend writing code.

One of the things people have a hard time with using C or C++ are pointers (basically access to addresses in memory). Java eliminates that for the most part. It doesn’t have pointers or references like C or C++.

Java is a very nice language with a wonderful library. One of the nice things about Java are the libraries (GUI, networking, etc).

This is not to say you cannot start off learning C++. Chances are that with the right book(s) you could do it w/o to much trouble.