I just had my mom teach me. We started by driving in cemeteries and parking lots (2 or 3 sessions like this) before moving onto real roads. (low speed ones at first) Then we moved on to higher speed roads and highways, and all the while we were also practicing parking and stuff like that. You could probably learn how to drive in less than a month like this, but we staggered it out a bit long so it took me like two.
Before the test we hired a driving instructor (which came with a car we could use during the road test) and she showed me the exact route the person testing me would direct me on as well. The difficulty of the test varies wildly by where you are but I took mine in Chicago and it was incredibly easy, mostly because the Chicago DMV is so strapped for resources that they can't make their test very complicated.
I read driver's ed when I was 8, retained almost all the information. Didn't get my permit and license til late because parents and whatnot. First day I ever tried driving while on my permit was in a 2013 Focus sedan. Started on sleepy suburb neighborhood streets and by the end of the day I was driving 60mph on winding two lane highways. Learning manual transmission in my dad's '01 Focus and '12 Nissan Versa was a little hairy and I'm no expert at it, but I can drive one. I've since had some professional instruction as well and turns out I'm a pretty decent circuit racer, so I'm really wanting to follow up on that.
Also shoutout to warble if you ever browse this thread anymore. There's a walmart near me and there's someone who always parks their red Datsun Pulsar in the back of the lot. Figured it was a vehicle you'd have wet dreams over :) have pics on my phone but I'm on my PC right now.
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