The manual is your only real hope of understanding your camera. Start reading on page ii. Take note of page 1 on what you got inside the box. Pages 2-9 discuss the parts of your camera. Know all of them by heart.
On page 21, you will learn how to take photos in still image mode. Focusing is discussed in page 23. It says there that if the camera is unable to focus, see page 139. In page 139, it says to go to page 140 for manual focus. Page 140 tells you how to set up manual focus and page 141 discusses exactly step-by-step how to use manual focus.
For changing shutter speed, see 108-113 after you understand where you can change that in page 106. You can't do it in every mode. Don't forget to read page 107. You will need to know that for sure.
Everything seems to be detailed enough and well illustrated. I can now see how difficult it is to handle the J1. The controls aren't based on a regular SLR. That's what you get for choosing a non-standard camera like the hybrid. Even though that may be the case, I'm sure I will get some great shots with it now that I am a little familiar to it's control system.