I only tried manual a couple of times and wasn't too great at it.
I recently taught myself to drive a motorcycle in a developing country. I found that when I stalled starting from first it was because I let go of the clutch too quickly. I learned to let go of the clutch and feel where it would start to engange and then qhen I wanted to go I gave gas. And then the other times when I would stall was usually when somebody got in front of me suddwnly and I was going too slow for the gear.
I don't know how much driving a moto carries over to driving a car. I'd probably be better these days. I recommend driving a moto. The only bad thing is of course accidents. I like light weight low displacement bikes. 200cc or under. Honda has one called the grom. There are also old school Hondas on craigslist.