Java, lol

I was told by a game developer at this seminar that if I want to learn how to program games, a good way to start is with Java and making cellphone games. I plan on learning C++ before Java anyway but around how long would it take a newbie to learn Java or when would it be a good idea to learn Java if not at all?

I must say that yes, Java and C++ are poor languages in general. You may want to consider dabbling is a simpler language like Python or Perl,
Try learning OpenGL or SQL; they're excellent for graphics.