If you are able to get a film SLR, I highly recommend you take a photo class learning the basics on black and white film. Learning manual control of the SLR will allow you to better appreciate what an automatic camera does, it will also let you learn how to do things such as "freezing" action in your shots, plus how to get certain "artistic" elements in your photos.
The above link has a quick tutorial on developing black and white film, it's text only, but quite straightforward.
All Digital SLRs offer this. This format captures all the data from your sensor and does not process it, you need to handle that in software before distributing your images. Shooting in RAW will give you more control during processing in case if you over or underexposed your shot. If you shoot straight to JPEG your errors in exposure (if there are any) will be preserved and detail will be lost. If you have a large memory card (4GB+), shooting in RAW+JPEG is a good idea so you can send images right off the bat, and then process the RAW files for higher resolution needs.
Depending on the light conditions, you will want to set a different ISO speed on either your digital camera, or you will want to use a different speed film in your 35mm camera. You will want to use the lowest speed possible for the lighting that you are working with. If you are outdoors on a bright day ISO 100 film is ideal, or set your camera to the lowest ISO that it offers (Canon G10 offers ISO 80, Sony Alpha offers 100). If you are indoors you will use a faster ISO setting. I like 400 ISO Black and white film for general shooting, and I will vary my ISO on my DSLR. Better (read: more expensive) digital cameras can get relatively high ISOs without introducing unacceptable levels of noise.
Why avoid a High ISO?
When you set your camera to a high ISO you are amplifying the signal that it sends to the memory card, the higher ISO allows for more "noise" and will make the images more grainy in appearance. Generally you want the sharpest image you can get with as little distortion as possible, that's why a low ISO is recomended.
The above is not the end all authoritative rule in photography, some photographers like the "gritty" feel of using film that is too fast for the lighting, others need the shots ready to go so they shoot JPEG and will only photoshop to shrink and mail the photos. Feel free to experiment, but always use the above tips to guide you. Eventually you'll find what works best for you! Happy shooting!