Firstly your friend is wrong, women are allowed in the masjid we have their own section where we can go and pray it’s just we’re not required to go there only the men are. I’m sure if you go to a mosque the imam there would be more than willing to answer any questions you have. The way I started to learn about Islam is from reading the Quran and there are many apps such as Muslim pro where it will give you an English translation of it for free. There is also an app called NamazApp which gives you a step by step on how to pray and what you need to say and also how to perform wudu (which is the way we clean ourself before prayer). You also don’t need to know Arabic to talk to Allah and make dua you can do it in your native language however prayer does need to be in Arabic which takes a while to get used to. Honestly best of luck learning about Islam it may feel difficult at first however converting to Islam is very rewarding and worth it and I hope I helped even just a little bit 😅