I'm a beginner too (and I'm french, but not at IRCAM !).
Todd, about the problems with your soundcard, you should read the "3.1. how to get and install Pd" section of the documentation, and there is a useful Pure Data FAQ page at http://www.pure-data.org/
If you want to learn how to use Pd, you should open the patches in the pd/doc directory, "pd/doc/2.control examples/01.intro.pd" first. It's like a tutorial. Each example is numbered, they all have comments, try to edit them and change some parameters, and when you have understood the patch, open the next example. If you want more info about one object, right-click on it for help. All the help windows are themselves patches explaining the objects. You can find them in the pd/doc/5.reference directory.
I hope this will help you.
Nicolas Lhommet