I am a person fortunate to have learned to drive manual transmission, which is better known as driving stick. I was taught by my father and I am going to try to teach you. It is a good skill that I compare to riding a bike; at first it will appear to be very hard, but once learned will never be forgotten. In my opinion driving stick gives a person better control of their car and makes the driving experience a lot more fun. After studying the following three steps a person should have a much easier time when learning to start, shift and stop a manual transmission automobile.
Compared to an automatic transmission a manual transmission has three pedals instead of two. The drivers right foot controls the throttle on the right and the break in the middle. The left foot however is used to control the third pedal on the left which is the clutch. When starting the car the drivers left foot must place the clutch pedal completely to the floor and the right foot should be placed on the break. The car can now be started. Once started the stick shift controlled by the drivers right hand should be placed into first gear. Now keeping your left foot on the clutch take your right foot off the brake and place it on the gas to bring the RPM's to approximately 2,000. The next step is to very slowly lift your foot from the clutch while keeping the RPM's at 2,000. As your left foot is released the RPM's will drop and at this point you need to apply more pressure to the throttle. This is the hardest part when learning to drive manual transmission and will take several, if not many chances to learn. If one gets upset or feels they need a break they should stop and try again the next day. The trick in mastering this step is keeping the RPM's at 2,000 by applying gentle pressure to the gas pedal with the right foot. .
After someone learns to start the car in first gear the next step needed to be learned is how to up shift into the following higher gears.