What would be a good starter lens?

My girlfriend bought a Nikon D70 camera before Christmas, but it didn't come with a lens. Just the body. I really don't know anything about cameras, and I tried looking online for different types of lenses, but I didn't understand the differences. Anyway, my question is what would be a good starter lens for her camera? She wants to take pictures of people, so I don't want to buy her a fish eye lens. I'm also not making enough money right now to buy her a great lens. I do realize "you get what you pay for" but like I said, it's just something to start with. She wants to get into photography. I also realize that I could just ask her about a lens, but I want to surprise her.

The best lens for someone just learning photography would be the 18-55 mm. I can shoot landscapes, group shots, full body shots and head and shoulder portraits

I agree with Photo Ace - the 18-55mm is a good lens for her to try out to kind of refine what she likes taking pictures of. It can go wide for landscapes, and get closer for portraits.

I also tend to recommend getting a 50mm f/1.8 lens to just about anyone. It will kick the 18-55mm's trash at taking portraits on a D70, but it won't do wide-angle landscapes because it can't zoom out (indeed, it can't zoom at all). The only reason I'm hesitant to suggest the 50mm f/1.8 to you is because it will not autofocus on a D70.

Anyway, just a few ideas.

If she's serious about learning photography, get her a 35mm f/1.8. That will teach her how to frame each shot carefully before pressing the button. If all you need is one workhorse lens for the most ordinary shots encountered out there, get the 18-55mm. If you anticipate taking subjects from a distance, get a longer zoom lens like the 18-200mm.

http://keerok-photography.blogspot.com/2011/05/lenses-so-many-of-them-there-is-no-best.html

A 35mm f1.8 is a good shout, you can get a cheap one for around 200 quid which doesn't auto-focus but there's a more expensive one which does.

The 18-55 is a good does-all solution but it has not-as-good image quality.

The cool thing about Nikons is that they have used the same lens mount since the 50s so you can buy old retro lenses and use them with your digital camera - obviously those won't auto focus either though.