Originally Posted by MJB

Everybody has trouble with 1st gear when first learning manual. That is the only difficult part about it. You need to find the sweet spot, basically the point where the clutch grabs. You should go to an empty parking lot, put it in gear, and without even touching the gas, just slowly let off the clutch pedal till you feel the car moving... do that a bunch of times so you'll learn the engagement point is on the pedal. Muscle memory my friend... practice makes perfect.