Citizen Sky have prepared a Southern Hemisphere 10-Star Tutorial which is designed to lead beginners into visual observation of variable stars.
Previously, the 10-Star Tutorial had a strong Northern Hemisphere bias, but now there are two versions, one for each hemisphere. The tutorials are hosted by AAVSO.
http://www.citizensky.org/content/so...-star-tutorial
http://www.citizensky.org/content/10-star-training
Cheers -