Learn a language.  You can't start writing scientific papers without first knowing english.

I would recommend python.

- Comes with a terminal/command prompt that allows you to evaluate expressions.
- Lots of shortcuts to make life easier along with a strong set of built in libraries.
- The python community within bitcoin is fairly strong so you will have a lot of code examples.
- The module interface is fairly easy to understand compared to say the imports in C.  Also tons of libraries that are easy to use and install via easy_install or pip.

I would recommend learning C at some point because it is fairly important to know and understand.  The problem with C and C++ is implementing 3rd party libs are funky at best.  The amount of pain needed to build a bunch of libraries for a programs dependencies is agonizing.  Also development on windows with C/C++ is god aweful.  Some programs/libraries will only build on GCC and others only MSVC.  >_<

Erlang will leave you frustrated but it is an interesting language.  Functional languages are nifty but the library support is lacking and often times the syntax is extremely verbose and frustrating.

C# is ok.  Especially if you start out using linq as it will make life easier.  Only downside is you are limited to windows only then unless you take special care to be compatible with mono.