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Dig out a old Windows 95 or 98 install CD and look in the \other\oldmsdos directory. Just double click on qbasic.exe and it runs. A useful installation with the excellent help system involves copying help.com, help.hlp, qbasic.exe and qbasic.hlp to a directory on your hard drive. It will run in a window or full screen. Hundreds of thousands of already written programs and examples will be at your command. With minimal modification many Visual Basic code samples will work.
It is essential for a mechanic to understand a lawn mower engine before they move on to electronic engine management systems. Likewise an programmer should start with something simple. Those that skip the beginning of a learning process usually end up making beginner mistakes later when the "cost" is greater.
It is a shame that operating system companies don't include BASIC in the default installation. It would cost nothing and would open a window for countless potential programmers.
The BASIC language is far from dead. Anyone who says otherwise probably thinks BASIC programs still have line numbers.
