Hey there Shamster,
I'll just back up what the others have said... It will take time, and if you go at it all crazy trying to tap people when you have little technique, you'll just be a horrible sparring partner for your teammates! (BJJ guys, I'm sure you know the people I'm talking about - not all beginners do it, but some of the new guys do, go 200% trying to "tap" their partners, but they don't have enough technique, and they just become DANGEROUS to their parnters and themeselves, with flying limbs all over the place, accidentally striking their partner, losing balance, falling on elbows, etc.)
Number one for beginners it to understand positions. If you're on the bottom, you want your partner in the guard, not mounted. If you're on the top, you want to be mounted/side or top control, not in their guard. If they offer you their back, you take it. With that in mind, you should be able to "spar" quite effectively, always with the intention of getting to and maintaining a good position, or at least preventing your opponent from improving their position. If they're in your guard, don't let them pass. If they've got side control, don't let them mount, etc.
Sparring with that in mind will make you a good partner for your teammates too. They won't have to worry about getting injured, and they can concentrate on the more technical aspects of their game.
From there, as you learn techniques, you can start to try them out. Say you learn armbar from guard. So now, when you've got them in your guard, you keep the "positions" game in mind - i.e. don't let them pass - but now you also keep your eye out and see if they offer you their arm at all. If so, try the armbar. If not, fine - just keep trying to stop them from passing your guard.
Most BJJ schools that I've seen are pretty friendly places. I know when I was a beginner, if I got to a position and maintained it pretty well but had no submissions from there, I'd tell my parnter. Then if the guy knew a submission from there, they'd invariably show me, and thus, once I'd learnt to maintain positions, I started adding submissions to my arsenal.
But ultimately, Shamster, keep at it! BJJ's a great sport, and you're going to have great fun with it!
Cakegirl
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