For any beginners like me ... I ended up printing blank tab sheets at http://www.blanksheetmusic.net/ .. here you can write down the tab and music notes. Has helped me with the learning process.
After an hour of practicing and using this method as well as going through this site's beginner lessons.... I now know simple chords C major, G major, A minor E major and full chords A, D and E major by heart.
I've read a lot of posts of people not knowing any chords and that they've been playing for awhile. It took an hour or so to learn some basic stuff...if you're a beginner like me ... just put forth a little effort .... tell yourself you're not going to stop until you learn something and do it. It's a great feeling being able to play chords without having to look at any reference.
Don't give up.