i recommend http://www.codecademy.com/. the interface can be a bit finicky at times but overall i believe it to be a great way to learn. they tell you a bit about the language and have you write little bits and pieces to get you on your way. before you know it you've written your first program.

i just ran QBasic in rpix86 on my pi. the only downside, and hopefully it's just something that i did, is that rpix86 runs with full cpu usage.