Imo people should start with C first since it is a lot simpler than C++ while still providing a lot of what you mentioned. C++ adds a lot of things like name mangling, templates, L & R value references that can quickly make things a bit more daunting for beginners.

I also generally find error messages for C a lot more parsable for beginners than C++ ones.

C++ is a monster. I’d suggest C instead to learn about these basic ideas.