Path to Game Development

An acquaintance of mine wants to become a game developer/programmer, and she asked for learning materials, however I don't want to rush and suggest book or youtube videos and instead I want to ask folks here who do that for a living.

What was your path to game development? I know many folks are self-taught, but how exactly did you become a game dev? How would you recommend to get started?

What programming languages are relevant for PC game development nowadays? Only C++?

If we are talking about let's say Android or iOS, would that be Java and Objective C? Or the world has long moved on?

Is C++ a good first language to start learning or it's overkill and one should start with something more primitive, e.g. C or JavaScript?

What books would you recommend to a person who's never done any programming at all and wants to dive deep into it?