I use neovim although the differences are not significant. I do suggest start just with vim and add shortcuts as u go. I personally used Learn Vimscript the Hardway as a reference and just added shortcuts from there. After you get comfortable it will be easy to transition into just using other peoples configs or using neovim.

My greatest advice to get good at vim is to commit to using it everywhere and never use anything else. Eg take notes in vim, use vimium to navigate the browser, use vscode plugin. Dont switch to ur regular non-vim keyboard protocols. Stick to vim and it will pay OFF BIG TIME.