>I can't agree enough with both Gahalia and Howard about getting somebody else to drive with. You need someone who can be relaxed. In the last three years, I taught two of my friends how to drive a standard transmission in my own car (my FIRST car) and no matter what they did, I stayed calm and gave gentle advice. One of them took about five minutes to get good, and then about four more hours to believe that he was good. The other took about half an hour to get good. Both of them seemed quite happy, and I think the key was that I stayed relaxed.
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To add to everyone else's advice, not just having a teacher who is relaxed but also being relaxed and confident *yourself* is really important. When I do driving lessons myself, if I'm not confident then I *will* do badly. The opposite happens if I am confident and calm, and not panicking all over the place...

Interestingly, the exact same thing happens with me and skiing. If I get nervous and tense, I'll fall over on bunny slopes. But when I relax and get more confident, I can handle the easier black diamond runs with little difficulty. There's something to be said for believing in yourself, no matter how cheesy or cliche it sounds. ;)

Sosi"good luck!"qui