Unless he's chosen his programming languages for these courses, most teach old VB (no idea why, I think it's stupid), or Java, inside of an IDE like Eclipse. I personally hate Java, i'd much prefer C++ or any C-style/based language instead. Java is a bit odd for me, but what I really enjoy for a hobby is C#, and since I know VB.NET I mainly use my knowledge there to help others progress in the basics of programming, for the simple language that VB.NET is.
C# programmers make more money career-wise over VB programmers, not sure why, C# although, has more of a relevence in comparison to other advanced languages like C or C++, or even also Java if you want to include that. I find C# much more enjoyable, and I think it's a great starting language. You can get some decent jobs as a C# programmer too.
