(I'm pretty sure nobody created a thread like this, but anyway...)
ITT, discuss your first experiences at any Touhou game. Share your stories, hm?
Anyway, as for me, I started last year with IN (well, friend got me into it, actually). I was foolish enough to think that Easy and Normal was a pushover for me, so I started with Hard. What's worse is that I wasn't aware of death-bombing or using focus. From what I recall (back then), I doubt I even captured a spell card during the stage runs at all...I just bomb for the sake of my survival, which explained failed spell card bonuses. I do remember that in the end, I used 2 (or 3) continues, then obtained a bad ending at stage 5 (I used max lives, btw).
After that, I learned that I was wrong by a long shot, so I started learning the aspects of the game and started on Easy, then slowly progressing to Normal after a 1CC (on Easy mode, mind you), then practiced spell cards and beyond.
Now that my story's out of the way, why not share your first-hand experiences?