W. B. Robison, 71, is one of a half dozen senior citizens who are taking foreign languages at Texarkana Community College as a hobby.
Foreign languages have been Robison’s hobby since his high school days. He learned Spanish in high school, studied German in college, and is now taking elementary French under Professor Albert Riusech at the local college.
Although born in Texarkana, he left here at an early age and did not return until eight years ago when he retired from the trucking division of the Rock Island Railroad.
Robison is fluent in Spanish and found it helpful during his residence in San Antonio and South Texas. He thinks it is a “shame” that all young people in Texas are not bi-lingual. He thinks every move should be made to create a grand alliance with Canada and Mexico, giving U.S. citizens an opportunity to learn French from Canada and Spanish from Mexico.
Of all the languages he has studied, he considers Spanish the easiest to learn. He subscribes to El Sol de Texas (the Texas Sun), a Spanish language newspaper published in Dallas.
“I enjoy reading that and the Spanish edition of the Readers Digest,” he said.