[nxtrafalgar]

I disagree with this. The second course most [software] engineering students at my university are exposed to, after basic MATLAB and C programming, is 'Object Oriented Design', which teaches the fundamentals of OOP using Java.

It's very useful to have a consistent mental model of classes, methods, variable lifetimes, etc. early on.

Of course, if you're teaching yourself to program (or recommending a language for self-teaching) then Java probably isn't the way to go. However, with a competent teacher, fundamental Java knowledge can be invaluable.