What is wds ?
wds (William Dobbs Sprachen) came into existence in 1983
when William Dobbs became a freelance teacher of English after having worked as
Head of Languages in a Swiss business and language school for 4 years.
The main activity at that time was the marketing and
teaching of in-company English courses. The system and methods employed proved
to be popular and successful, and business in this field continues to grow. Among the 80 past and present partner organisations are Swiss
industrial concerns, Swiss-based American subsidiaries, insurance companies,
Telecom companies and technical universities.
In addition to teaching, wds
also provides services for people wishing to learn languages abroad and
represents a wide range of schools in Britain, America, Canada, Australia, New
Zealand, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Services offered through the wds Info-Centre include the supplying of school
brochures and related information as well as individual advice through personal
contact with the potential course participant.
Other activities of wds
include translation and proof reading (English - German – French – Spanish –
Italian - Russian), the marketing and selling of teaching materials
(worksheets, exercises, etc.) and the production and marketing of Computer
Assisted Language Learning Software. The first wds
software production - "English for Information Technology" was
completed as far back as December 1988 and has since been sold in updated and
extended versions to various companies and to Swiss Telecom and Post
organisations. The latest wds production, -
the Pass English Exams suite, offers students practice in all aspects of the Cambridge
English Examinations BEC, First Certificate, Advanced and Proficiency. Seven
course books have also been produced for Swiss Telecom on the subjects of
"Telecommunications English", "Fernmeldedeutsch" and
"English for IT". The book "English Grammar Explanations and Exercises" was published in 2019 and is available to the general public.
wds also runs
seminars and workshops for language teachers, in Winterthur and throughout
Switzerland.
The school wds (Winterthur) opened to the general public in February 1991, offering part-time evening courses as well as private and closed-group courses during the day, in English. Click here to visit the relevant pages and to read further information.