Practice trying to keep it in 2nd.. 2nd gear has a large range - from almost a dead stop to 50+. In stop-and-go traffic, I use gas pedal to both accelerate and break.

By the way, my '98 Civic EX has an extremely tough clutch to press. It's almost a pain to get back into my Civic after other manuals.. BMW however, have a very tight clutch with very short engagement range..