1999 Volkswagen Jetta Gear shift

I have purchased this car about a month ago for my son. It has 180,000 miles. The engine is a 2000 and has about 65,000 miles. The previous owner said his wife hit the oil pan and burnt the other enigine. Anyway the problem is, shift to 1st, 2nd gear are very hard to find. The other gears are fine. We have a friend that owns a 1996 passat and 2006 jetta. He seems to think the engine or gears for the 1st and 2nd gears are not lined up right. He says the transmission seems fine. I was just wondering why it is hard to shift from 2nd to 1st and 1st to 2nd.
Please help


Cindy