BG1 is very much an old school game in that it is very unstructured and you're supposed to "go find yourself something to do" without it being a sandbox in the way modern games are. This might feel like you have no idea what to do when you start playing it.
BG2 is structured much more like modern games and quests make themselves known to a much higher degree. It is likely to be much more approachable and I would start there instead of with BG1. It's the higher quality production of the two anyway.
