If you want to do things right, read SICP and learn Scheme. That's probably the fastest route for going from knowing nothing about programming to being a very good programmer. It's somewhat akin to learning to swim by jumping off the 10m platform, though, so don't get discouraged.
OTOH, he doesn't say he wants to be a very good programmer. He wants to be able to communicate better with other programmers. SICP helps if he wants to talk with the right programmers. :) Otherwise, it may not be the most cost-effective investment.
