Focus on learning HOW to use pointers first. Learn what the * and & operators do. Get the mechanics down solid, then put your efforts into understanding the concept itself. That''s why it takes people so long to understand them. It''s only after getting a firm grasp of the mechanics that things start clicking into place. So just use pointers as much as you can. Do any and all example problems involving pointers. Look for other example problems. Just play around with pointers themselves. Some of the mechanics will be hard to understand without understanding the concepts themselves (ie pointer arithmetic and the relationship between pointers and arrays), but it will eventually click, and when it does, there will be a quantum leap in your understanding of C/C++ and all it has to offer.

i found pointers hard to grasp myself, but one day it just CLICKS in your head. And you wonder why you had trouble with them in the first place since they are so simple.