BBC basic @ 9 yrs old, horrible language, then Visual Basic - I agree with ESR "about as uch fun as a picnic in a toxic waste dump" Z80 assembler and then C. Since learing C I have learnt Java and it makes more sense to me than procedural programming.
Another interesting viewpoint. When I first encountered BBC BASIC the only comparison I could make myself was against the BASIC on the Sinclair machines (ZX81 and Spectrum) and comments made my friends about other home computers they owned. BBC Basic was considered good because it had long variable names, named procedures and a proper IF/THEN/ELSE, and REPEAT UNTIL.
BBC basic was good for the reasons above, but bad cos it used goto's etc...
Just an interesting link onm the subject of goto less programmers.
W. Richard Stevens' FAQ
http://www.kohala.com/start/rstevensfaq.html
regards
Owen