Playing is the only way to learn, whether its a computer or person. My advice is to go for the person, because everybody, whether they have ever played Chess or not, all have their own skill levels, and makes it easier to work your way up the skill-level chain at a decent pace. Basically, I played my friend every Latin IV study hall we had in college, he beat me 3 times out of 4 at the beginning of 2nd semester, but by the end of the year, I could beat him 4 out of 4 times. Just a LOT of playing.
