you learn a graphics API (eg. OpenGL or DirectX)

obligatory red book link

I join SiCrane on learning SDL. However, first of all - get confident with C++. When you reach SDL, GL, DX or whatever advanced topic, you'll need your C++ sharp as a razor.

I would recommend taking on a medium-sized project and completing it. You can make games in console mode. Here are some ideas:

1. Checkers - draw the whole board on the screen, get coordinates to move from/to, and write a computer player. Do it all object-oriented and nice.

2. Chess - Do the same, but no computer player, just player vs. player. Learn about inheritance in the types of pieces, etc.

3. 4-in-a-row - Again, draw the board on the screen, and implement a CPU player.

4. Maze or even a very simple D&D game, MUD style.

If you'll do some of these, you'll get your skills up and running in C++. Then I suggest you'd read even more C++ books - like Effective C++, More Effective C++, and Efficient C++. Then you can move on to SDL and the likes, when you're sure that C++ will not be an obstacle. You'll have lots of these anyways, so it's best to remove them ASAP, I think :-)

Good luck!

I would say SDL also. Have you made any console games yet? Like guess the number or hangman? With SDL, you can start out small with just displaying something then move onto bigger things. Here are a few good tutorials.

I recoommend SDL too =)

start small!

You could give C# a shot. I've been playing with it for a while now and have decided to never turn back to C++ ever again, unless I have to. SDL.NET is a great library wrapper for SDL (written in C#) that turns SDL, SDL_gfx, SDL_mixer, etc, into an object oriented interface. You might want to check it out if you do plan to give C# a look.