PHP is fantastic, it's definitely the best web platform if you want to actually get things done. Having said that, learning a language's syntax is not the same

PHP is fantastic, it's definitely the best web platform if you want to actually get things done. Having said that, learning a language's syntax is not the same as learning programming (or web development). If you are serious about what you are doing, learn OOP theory, design patterns, the internals of the web (TCP/IP, the HTTP protocol, etc.), security, and a bit of cryptography can't hurt. So you can use PHP while learning all those things, and you will be golden. Ignore all the FUD and hate around it, eg: "php is insecure", "php websites are a mess", "php is for noobs", "php is slow". Using a different language won't fix any of that, learning how to program will. And if you ever decide to switch to a different language within the same paradigm (procedural / OOP / semi functional, eg: ruby/python/javascript/java), it won't take longer than a few days, because you already know how to program, so you only have to learn the syntax.