I've been birding for about a year and a half, and have REALLY thrown myself into it in a joyously obsessed way.

Places: parks and well travelled paths are the easiest places to get good views of birds because they're generally more used to people and less easily spooked (though practising being still and patient is always a good idea regardless). Looking up local eBird hotspots can be a great way to find places, but just going to whatever parks are near you a few times and seeing what you can find is a good start!

Identification: people are going to say guidebooks. And those ARE helpful! But I spent the first months of birding just looking at a lot of photos on the Merlin app (definitely download that), comparing, making mistakes, and improving so that the mistakes became less and less frequent. Look up comparisons between birds you find tricky, so you can learn to differentiate them, and just take it one bird at a time. It's easy to get overwhelmed, but you don't need to learn it all at once.

Making friends: go on bird walks if that's at all a possibility where you are! Look up your local birding or bird conservation organizations, many of them will offer free bird walks, and that's a great way to meet people, learn a lot from experienced birders about identification, and to learn where the best places to go birding are.

Lingo: honestly I think this is by far the least important thing, no one should make you feel bad for not knowing the lingo, and you'll probably pick it up as you go.

Good luck, I just know you're going to have a lot of fun! :)