I stand on the other side of the fence from Tina. I used to learn every song I heard that I liked - whether it was learning from someone else, getting the chords from the library (
) or just working it out by ear.
If you are able to work songs out by ear, this is by far the best method, as other people's transcriptions usually can't be relied on, especially some of the Beatles books out there!
I don't think learning other people's music makes you lack originality. I think it teaches you about how songs are put together, and how chords interact. It took me a long time, but I think I found my own songwriting voice, and I still learn songs that catch my ear to this day. Seems perfectly healthy to me.
My first guitar was a Concorde acoustic which I inherited from my Dad when he bought an electro acoustic. It was a big old beast with a pretty high action, but I loved it. I played it for about 4-5 years, acquiring a cheap electric along the way before finally getting a nicer acoustic which is still my main guitar 20 years later
First song I learned to play? Honestly, I can't remember. But it may have been house of the rising sun...