I learned C as my first language, then only much later on moved on to functional languages. Don't get stuck in PHP-think mentality, and definitely make sure to

I learned C as my first language, then only much later on moved on to functional languages. Don't get stuck in PHP-think mentality, and definitely make sure to understand the things about Python or Ruby that make them functional ASAP. Learning to understand macros in Lisp also really helps you think better, that's what people keep repeating. From what I understand, it blurs the line between that interface of the language to the compiler/interpreter, which seems cool. I'm definitely a newbies still (in all Lisp, Python, Ruby).