I have exactly the same problem, however, with me it is even worse: I have never flown anything. But I can tell you that they are all correct. You need somebody who has experience. Even if it is for just one afternoon. Me, I don't one someone else helping me out, because I want to do it all by myself. So I started reading arround and stuff. And I have to say, it is possible to do it all by yourself.

The best thing to do is:
1) Ask arround a lot. You'll have to find somebody on the internet for example (this is even a good place) to which you can ask everything. For example: what a specific part is for, or is a specific part can be used with another one. (ex: does a reciever work with a specific helicopter)
2) Get all the info you can by yourself. (I'm planning on making a complete "how to do it by yourself guide" for the Raptor .30 V2, since this is the most commonly used nitro helicopter for beginners.
3) The best thing to do is: BUY Ray's Authoritative Helicopter Manual !!! It is said to be one of the BEST books for beginners. You'll get all the info you want in that one book. Don't want to make advertising, but you can buy it [link=http://www.helihobby.com/html/rc_helicopter_training.html]here[/link]

One of these days I will try to put up all the parts you need on a webpage. (I've only started one week and I've already got a complete list of everything you need + where you can buy it => so you see, it's doable for a novice)