Our Story

SINCE 1974

50 years of Communicative Language teaching in Baden

The English Center Sprachzentrum, Baden was started in 1974 by David Mitchell, who led the school until 1997. In 1998, he handed over the school to Ingrid Wildman. She retired in 2015 and Riti Mukherjee has taken over the school since. A passion for Languages, Teaching and Community has been the common thread in our Story. We invite you to read about us.

I have been associated with the school since 2000 when I started as an English teacher for Business and standard courses. Having native or bilingual Proficiency in English and my passion for teaching have made me want to pursue a career in the same. I introduced children´s playgroups in 2002 as there can be no substitute for learning a new language in formative years. I completed the SVEB 1 in 2009 and moved to the USA in 2012 where I completed the TESOL. Teaching on three different continents to various age groups having diverse goals has given me a deep insight into teaching methods.

Administration is my new role and I put all my team and customers at the top. I work hard to find the right courses for my customers, even if it means designing one for their language needs. I am approachable for all my clients from age 4 till age 80! I believe that one does not forget what they learn happily and my team and I keep a natural, flexible, and friendly atmosphere within our school without compromising on lessons and deadlines. Feel the true sense of globalisation with us.

Teaching is my passion -be it children or adults. Teacher-hood and motherhood have been the greatest times of my life. My daughter completed her Matur from the Kantonschule Baden and graduated from the College of Engineering,University of California, Berkeley, and is presently settled and working in New York. My son is studying at the Kantonschule Baden in his 12th year, and is an active part of LV Wettingen-Baden and STV Untersiggenthal.

Continuity and innovation were my aims. I continued with the same team of teachers and continued with exam courses in English, French, Spanish, and Italian. I was able to introduce more business courses including in-company courses and started courses for children, which became very successful and also brought new teachers to the school including Mrs Riti Mukherjee. After the year 2000, there was a decline in the teaching of all languages except English, which as a result became increasingly important to the school. In 2008 a bookshop was opened on the school premises and this saw a change in the size of the school to its present dimensions. We have continued to get students through the Cambridge exams (including the Proficiency) and even the children are able to get Cambridge qualifications for young learners. On my retirement in 2015, I could hand over the school to Riti Mukherjee, confident that I was passing it on into capable and very good hands.

Back then owing to Brown Boveri, Baden was an interesting place to start teaching English particularly the exam courses I taught. The school taught 5 languages and all teachers employed had a university training and were mother-tongue speakers. After some time the school grew and we needed a part-time secretary and that is when Frau Wildman came in. She took over the school when I moved to Lugano, where I started another language school. I wish the school a lot of success in the coming years”.