Hmmm, Perl as a first language. Well, I think the most important thing is a good teacher. A good teacher can break a complex learning experience into meaningful parts. Take a look at The Little Schemer, not an easy language to learn (well, at least for us simpletons). But the book has a great way to condition the mind, makes recursion seem, well, elementary.

The language shouldn't matter, it's how you present the problems at hand. Of course, at some point, any serious programmer will have to learn assembly of some flavor. . .

Jeff