Of the languages I see here, it comes down to what language is easiest and most accurate to use for your designed project. Really there is no one specific language to learn. Computer language for the most is designed for a specific set of applications. C++, is great for game design. VB great for networking, ect.. The easiest to learn with much more expansion possible is JAVA. That language is barely even broken into! SUN has been at it for over 25 years
So a great starter language would be Java or VB. After you are proficient with either. Then think about taking on the more frustrating languages.. C++, META, Cl,SLIP..
Most of my friends who are programmers know 3-5 languages. I personally am a SQL junkie . I know a little VB, some Java, and a insane amount of scripting for Exceed and WMF software