A very experienced senior flying instructor said to me " It is still a requirement for commercial pilots to be able to read." All the switches, cb`s, handles, brt`s (big round things), lst`s (little square things) are labelled - some even have helpful little hints abut max speeds etc. Don`t let the thing intimidate you - the hardest thing is to remember how to start the beast.
After that remember the hardest thing about flying is the ground so look out of the most important instrument in the aeroplane - the window!