Hey man, Welcome to the community 
Im also a beginner so not sure whether my answers will be helpful or relevant but as a fellow beginner, i might as well share my experience of starting unreal engine
1.
I recommend getting really comfortable with c++. knowing the basics like pointers and how they work is really helpful and can really help you understand the tutorials that Unreal offer on their youtube channel. My advice with c++ would have to be to just keep programming small programs in c++ until your comfortable. I learned alot at
http://www.cplusplus.com/ and their forums are really helpful in case you run into problems
2.
yes, you will need 3rd party programs such as Maya, 3dsMax to create your models and animations in and then import them into Unreal Engine
3.
Download the sample projects that Epic offers on the learn tab of their Launcher. break it down and learn how they work and why, also check out Epics youtube channel as they have a large playlist of tutorials and constantly do Training live streams in which you can learn in real time or at your convenience.
Most Important advice: Dont give up, it takes a while to learn, but once you get the hang of it, it starts becoming fun just messing around and trying out new things in many different ways. Good luck and hope it helps in anyway