If I were to recommend a study track, I would suggest starting these books:
For understanding how to design using web standards, and the importance of doing so:
Designing with Web Standards by Jeffrey Zeldman - a must read for anyone doing web development/design.
Web Standards Solutions by Dan Cederholm - This book shows different Web standards approachs for common concepts.
BulletProof Web Design by Dan Cederholm - This is a casebook that studies various coding pitfalls and how to keep your markup/style/behavior seperated and intuitive.
For Javascript, there are two books I can highly recommend:
Dom Scripting by Jeremy Keith - This is
THE book to get for getting your hands dirty when it comes to using the DOM. Learn the DOM. Love the DOM. If your going to do any sort of scripting/coding, you will thank yourself for learning the DOM. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
javascript: the Definitive Guide by David Flanigan - From soup to nuts, this covers the gamut and will help establish a good foundation.
Like others above me stated, its a long road your going down if you truly want to delve into web design/web development. I would try and get a very fim understanding of Javascript to make the transition to AJAX easier. If you were to learn another scripting leanguage, VB Script isnt a bad choice, as its a bit easier.
I saw you mention C# and C++...thats serious coding, and not as forgiving as scripting languages and require alot of hard work to learn.
If your a complete novice, you can do alot of learning now by reading and doing personal projects, but it can be hard if you do not work in an environment where you can truly develop your skills by applying what your learning to your daily workflow.