Most of this thread is "X language is better than Y language". Understanding how code works isn't just about knowing the syntax of the code, for a zen understanding of a language you first need to know the principles of computing.
If you just want to start straight with code, go to http://www.codecademy.com/ and start with the basic stuff on there. I would also recommend the AQA Computing AS textbook (ISBN-13: 978-0748782963) for a wider understanding of computer architecture, it also teaches the syntax for Pascal, Visual Basic, C# and some HTML+CSS. As a programmer, http://stackoverflow.com/ is your best friend for any problem that you or a peer can't solve, and also http://www.reddit.com/r/programming will also be able to help.
I honestly wouldn't listen to people saying "use this language", as each language is designed for a pretty specific purpose. While the C languages are VERY powerful for a lot of complex stuff; python works well with arduino, the raspberry pi, etc. There are a lot of languages that you'll never need or hear of, and specialising in one or two while broadening your knowledge of others sets you up pretty well if you want to go into the software development industry.
TL;DR- Codecademy, learn whatever language you want, learn about other computer stuff like architecture and binary, don't listen to people saying USE C++ OMG