The Switzerland-based language school and ESOL software developer wds (William Dobbs Sprachen) has expanded into the online learning market with the launch of Business English Online. This program is the first in a series of programs designed to help learners to acquire and improve Business English skills.

The language school and ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) software developer wds (William Dobbs Sprachen), based in Winterthur, Switzerland has expanded its range of educational programs and has entered into the online learning market with the launch of ‘Business English Online’. This program is the first in a series of programs designed to help learners acquire and improve their Business English skills online. Exercises include business vocabulary, grammar as used in business contexts, practice in writing mails, letters, offers, memos, etc. and contextualized listening.

Target Users

Author of the program, William Dobbs, explains that the product is targeted at three main user groups, - individual users can subscribe to the service for 1, 2, 3 or 6 months, language schools can integrate the program into their existing CALL (Computer Aided Language Learning) materials, and companies which need to train their employees in English can purchase block subscriptions for use by between 20 and 20,000 members of staff.

Instead of a Teacher?

When asked if this program could replace standard teaching, William Dobbs replied that this would never be the case. "We see the program as the ideal complement to classroom teaching and learning. It can never replace the group dynamics and inter-personal contact found in the classroom. What is does, though, is provide learners with a multitude of additional practice materials. Our target users all have the same aim, to improve their performance when using Business English, and they usually know very well where their weaknesses lie. Often the teacher does not have enough time to concentrate on individual needs. The solution is Business English Online. Users can look up any points they are not sure of , can do more exercises on various topics, they can refer to additional explanations, test themselves and generally gain a lot more confidence when using Business English"

More to Come

Additional programs which are scheduled to be launched in 2011 include online preparation courses for Cambridge University English examinations such as First Certificate in English (FCE) and Business English Certificate (BEC). These programs complement the existing software products currently available on CD-ROM as part of the pass-english-exams suite.

Made in Switzerland

All of these CALL products are developed at the wds Language School in Winterthur, Switzerland. Together with a team of professional programmers, experienced language teachers and the award-winning design company Meyer-Hayoz Design Engineering, also based in Winterthur, this particular project lasted around 2 years. Project leader and author William Dobbs is extremely delighted with the reactions already received, after being on the market for only little over a week, various language schools and Swiss companies have already implemented the product.