Alan Weiner teaches a Spanish conversation class every Thursday.

Submitted by Barbara Kreitner, Community Outreach Coordinator, West Hartford Senior Center

Alan Weiner. Submitted photo

At 80 years young, Alan Weiner is committed to staying involved in the classroom. Alan earned his BA and MA at the State University of New York (Albany) and his doctorate at the Universidad de Santiago, Compostela, Spain.  After Alan finished his service in the Air Force, he taught in Warwick, New York, but the majority of his career was spent at Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California (yes, 90210).  He also taught on the college level at various universities in Southern California.  Having taught French, Spanish and English as a Second Language for 41 years in Florida and California, Alan was excited to keep his mind busy and share his knowledge.

After moving to West Hartford three years ago with Ginny, his wife of 52 years, they joined the West Hartford Senior Center right away. He now volunteers at the Senior Center by teaching the Spanish Conversation class, and he enjoys being an active participant in the French Conversation and Current Events groups too. Ginny also likes to stay involved; she currently volunteers in the Senior Center’s office.  Alan’s philosophy regarding the learning of a foreign language is “the more languages you know, the more doors in life you can open.”
Alan’s class is held on Thursdays from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and is conversational; most students are fluent or near fluent. They discuss current events from Spanish speaking countries.  He says “bienvenido” (welcome) to anyone interested in joining the Spanish Conversation class where anything and everything is discussed in Spanish. With a sparkle in his eyes and a smile on his face, he said that one of the things he likes best about teaching at the Senior Center is that he “doesn’t have to correct papers and there are no behavior problems.”

For more information about the Spanish Conversation class, or to learn more about some of the many other events and activities of the West Hartford Senior Center, please visit www.westhartfordct.gov/leisureservices<http://www.westhartfordct.gov/leisureservices> or call (860) 561-7583.