Thanks for all the various responses. Don't worry, I know what IRC is...
Stef - I didn't know about your videos, which are great - I watched all of them I think, and definitely learned some things in the process. Also came across and downloaded the Squeak CD which has some books that I will read - "Smalltalk with Style" caught my eye for one.
Laurence - thanks for your practical suggestions, I will look at Americo's tutorials too.
And Edgar - yes, a specific goal will definitely add needed focus. I have an idea for a project, so lets see.
I was thinking a bit more as to why I feel at sea. In the traditional scene of static programs - lets say I'm looking at program.tcl, or program.mod, program.pas, program.rb etc etc - In a language that I'm not familiar with. I know what the program is supposed to do, Comments in the code or my common sense and general experience of programming will give me a framework in which I can see what's going on. The "domain space" is smaller, and the "solution space" is maybe a few thousand lines of source code.
Regards, Steve