I'm a PC player. Indeed the game doesn't do much hand-holding. When I began play 2 years ago, I used this wiki site to get up to speed on almost everything in Elite:
http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Elite_Dangerous_WikiIt's also one of those games where I found it helpful to expect to learn by doing, and even learn by failing. I make the odd mistake, it sometimes costs a bit, but I move on and am better for the experience. The sense of learning to walk, then run, and then fly was, for me, a great journey.