Hello from the land of OZ

Hello Everyone, I'm, Daryl. I live in Topeka, Kansas.
I've been involved with computers and electronics since high school (class of 78) but have not done much programming since using Basic, Assembly and Machine language. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what language to concetrate on to go the Arduino/Pi route? Linex, Python, C++ ?
I've been wanting to teach/mentor what I know and what I learn on this journey.
I work as the IT/Tech guy for a casino surveillance department. I'd like to emulate a three axis joystick on an Arduino or Pi with a touch screen. My coworkers are very hard on mechanical joysticks.
My other interests are RC cars/planes/drones and CNC control.
I've notices that a lot of posts mention model railroading. I'd be very interested in Arduino/Pi projects for that.
Thanks