How can I learn to swim?

I want to learn how to swim and dont tell me take swimming lessons because I dont have time for that. Most people that I know can swim learned by just getting thrown into a pool or river or lake or ocean and had to find there way out. Ive tried that but it didnt work. They tell me just use your arms to go foward and paddle your legs but when i try paddleing with my legs they wont come up sometimes but when it does work I swim slowly.Oh yeah I was also close to drowning when i was 6 does this have to do with anything?