PHP is a bad language for a beginner. It is far too difficult to find mistakes and the semantics are confusing. A beginner should take a language, which is clean and strict, so he will learn some discipline he needs for more loosely defined languages.
Look for strongly typed languages. Check if they don't have erratic behaviors like:
0 == "0" && 0 == "" && "0" != ""
Look how errors are handled. If these things look sane, it is useful as first language.
Paradigm doesn't matter. You can choose whatever style you want.