Another issue that IMO is overlooked about manuals in America is that they are harder to get.
They're somewhat common on the cheapest, lowest powered cars. The <$15,000 cars that are usually four-cylinder front-wheel-drive. A manual can make a 100hp slug of a car a bit more fun to drive.
Then, you see them on a decent amount of sports cars (although sequential dual-clutch paddle shifted transmissions are squeezing them out of a lot of brands)
But on just a regular, average sedan, many aren't available with a manual. And, even if the model you want is, the likelihood is that you'll have a much narrower selection.
My dad taught me how to drive stick, but what was helpful to me was a head-fi thread with a very similar title like two years ago... they advised to learn how to use the clutch without the gas first.
The issue is that as an auto driver, you're only used to dealing with one pedal at a time. At first, driving stick, I found that if I focused on the gas, I could apply it right, but then I wasn't really paying attention to the clutch, and usually let it go too fast. Or, if I focused on the clutch, I could do it smoothly, but I either over-revved or under-revved the gas. At first, I always either chirped the tires, or stalled.
The hardest part is going from stopped into first. The other shifts are pretty simple. I wasn't really taught it the 'performance' way - I rarely downshift, unless it's to pass on the highway. I put it in neutral a lot.
By driving around empty parking lots with just the clutch, you learn to feel where it grips. Once you have a good feel for the clutch, then you can worry about the gas.
The gas just lets you do it faster. In my car, at least, if I am idling, it takes a minimum of 3-4 seconds to get it moving by putting the clutch in. This is fine in some places, but not pulling out on busy roads.
The gas allows you to let the clutch out in 1-2 seconds without stalling it. Note that I don't mean just popping the clutch at a high RPM, I mean let it go until it grips, then rev it to 1500 and let it go the rest of the way.
And, get used to the fact that you are going to stall. It's a fact of life. The first day I was driving, I stalled a few times on major roads (I had previously only ever stalled in parking lots and on back roads). Just keep your cool, because if you get nervous and worked up, you'll just stall again.
The first time I stalled, it was late at night, and there was this big SUV with really bright headlights kinda riding my bumper up to a traffic light. Like all jerks do, he comes within 3 inches of my bumper at the stop, and of course he's in an SUV, so his lights are just as high as my rear view mirror, and I can't see anything.
The light turns green, I stall, and literally a second later the impatient ******* was laying on the horn and shouting obscenities. Of course, since he came up so close to me, he didn't have enough room to change into the other lane, so he just sits there on the horn, flashing his high beams on and off directly into my mirror, so I can barely see anything and I'm trying to get it started. I finally get the engine going again, and promptly stall it a second time, since by now I'm really nervous and kinda shaky. The third time, so desperate to not stall it, I drop the clutch at like 5k rpm. The VQ30 is a really torquey engine, so I end up doing a huge burnout across the entire intersection. It was pretty bad.
You'll probably install, and it will usually be when there's some neanderthal behind you who will go ballistic. Just gotta keep your cool.
