I suggest a two pronged approach. One is to use a kit as suggested above, basically a sharpening system with angle guides so that you can always return a blade to a baseline angle. For learning I would not worry too much about getting the ultimate razor sharp edge, just a sharp serviceable edge you can achieve with a fine and extra-fine stone.
Ultimately though you need to practice sharpening freehand so you can do touch up blades in the field. Once you learn to sharpen your knife freehand then you will find it easy to pick up sharpening other tools such as chisels, axes, and chainsaw chains. The key is frequent practice and use. Once you get into daily sharpening (use an inexpensive knife with decent carbon steel to learn on so you don't worry about blade wear) you will find that you can actually sharpen as well or better, and faster, doing it freehand than with a guide. Your hand and eye develop a feel for exactly the correct angle.
If you get confused or lose the feel doing it freehand, then go back to restore the edge with the guide and practice some more freehand. A simple honing block of any material is fine for learning. I prefer the DMT diamond stones, but anything will do for the learning phase.
After you are confident you can sharpen your knives, then look into refining your stones or system. You can use Arkansas stones, diamond, very fine sandpaper over a leather strop, grit on leather strop, etc. And you can then get a quality steel knife and not worry about wearing it out trying to sharpen it by trial and error.
