I am curious. I am the newbiest of all newbies, just got the software today, after saving for 3.5 years for it

Now that my newest dedication will be this software, I have some extreme stupid newbie questions:

1) Language. It seems there are names for things, so is there a resource that can define or teach me what these things are? ie: vertices, nurbs, etc.
2) Rendering. Can I render a scene in different levels of qualities so I can view my work (at a lesser quality) sooner than a few days of render time? ie: quick render?
3) Overview. I am wondering if there is some resource that can help me understand each button/option in the UI. There are so many and I have no idea what each does.
4) Anyone live in the East Bay of the SF Bay Area? I will pay somebody for tutoring.

THANKS! I look foward to your responses....