Its that time again (suggest a language)

What's the best language for a complete beginner to pick up and learn?

I'm able to read through sources in various languages and understand whats happening on a fundamental level.

I want to learn a language over the next 3~5 months and i cant make any informed desicions on which.

Suggest the language best suited to an entry level programmer.

IN BEFORE SHITSTORM

I'd say C and C++, but I'm probably biased.  If you can already read source at an abstract level then you are miles ahead of being a beginner really, even if you have no clue how to write something yourself.  If you already understand the idea behind variables and functions the next step is to learn the technical syntax, e.g. get a compiler and follow a tutorial to write 'hello world' in a language of your choice.

After you follow, say, 3-5 tutorials you'll know exactly which functions allow you to print to screen, how to take input from the user, and what the basic rules about variable operations are.  Ostentibly it tends to just get easier from here, as you just keep following tutorials to learn the syntax for more and more advanced things, e.g. arrays, classes, etc.

Once thing that you need to learn though that a typical online tutorial could leave out is what is going on at the bit level (abstractly that is, the literal bit representations you will never need to commit to memory).  Not just to understand pointers either, but so you appreciate what class inheritance does and what goes on when your program jumps from function to function.