Perl is most definitely my "primary" language, as well as by far, my favourite. Perl was the first language I learned, going on nearly 20 years ago now.

That said, I am equally well versed in Python, which I use at work for approximately 50% of my duties.

I'm very well versed with C# (requires me to use a search engine somewhat infrequently), and can easily code in and understand C and C++, but unlike Perl and Python, I'm no expert with these three.

I can get by in JS when I need to (Your Mother has provided me great guidance with this lang in the past), and I'm very experienced with two legacy custom languages at my $work that we have replaced with Python.

OP: Perl is a great first language. As others have stated, Perl programming jobs are for the very experienced anymore, and again, as others have stated, if you learn Perl, it really helps to build an understanding of several other languages (most notably imho, C), so it can be used as the starting block for you to branch out from as you gain experience.

Update: Besides, Perl has the most open, welcoming, helpful and polite community of any language out there. I've been a member of numerous forums over the years, and out of all of them, Perl-related boards, mail lists, communities, Perl easily takes the cake (Perlmonks in particular, but not necessarily specifically).