About Wits Language School

In response to a need for part-time communication training, Wits Language School was established in 1997. The school is part of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand. Wits Language School offers part-time tuition in over 10 languages as well as a full time English as a Foreign Language programme. Due to the demand from private companies and government organisations, the school also offers Corporate Language courses designed around an organisation’s specific needs.

Wits Language School Mission To respond to and meet the demands of the market in language services, namely: Translation services Interpreting services Teaching individuals to speak South African and foreign languages Helping individuals to improve their English proficiency in line with their career objectives Language Policy consultancy to corporate and public sectors Methods for teaching languages in general and South African languages in particular

The language areas of the Wits Language School are run by Course Coordinators who report to the Director of the Language School.

DR NHLANHLA THWALA was appointed Director of the Wits Language School in Dec, 2006. Dr Thwala has taught in Swaziland, the USA, the UK and several schools in South Africa where he taught English, History, Academic Communication Skills, Zulu and Linguistics. He obtained his Masters at Syracuse University in 1990 followed by his PhD at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1995. His areas of interest include language pedagogy, language policy and formal syntax. Dr Thwala believes that knowledge is hidden behind language.
 

TRISH COOPER: (English as a Foreign Language)
Trish completed an Honours degree in Linguistics from Rhodes University, and a Masters in Applied Linguistics from the University of South Africa (UNISA). She is a qualified English language instructor having completed a CELTA course (Cambridge Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults). This has enabled Trish to focus on teaching English to students from all over the world. 

 

JOAN LESLEY SOLE: (African, Asian and European Languages)
Joan holds a BA in English and Zulu, a Professional Teacher’s Qualification, an Honours Degree in Applied Linguistics and a Master of Education Degree in Curriculum Design and Development. Her M Ed research was classroom-based, in the field of Communicative Language Teaching. Joan has studied English, Afrikaans, Zulu, French and Spanish and has a passion for making language instruction a fully integrated life skills experience.  Joan is also a member of the Association for Language Testers in Europe (ALTE).



GEORGINA MA: (Language Teacher Education)
Georgina has a BA (Majors: English, Law) and Honours degree (English) from the University of KwaZulu Natal. She recently completed her MA (English Language Teaching) at the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom. Georgina has more than 10 years experience in teaching English as a second and foreign language in South Africa and abroad. She has been involved in teacher training and development since 2003. Georgina is a member of IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language) and a member of the Teacher Training and Development special interest group.
 

DR KIM WALLMACH: (Translating and Interpreting)
Kim completed her BA (Majors: French, German), MA (Translation) and PhD (Translation) qualifications at Wits. She has more than 15 years’ experience in teaching translation and interpreting at university level, as well as over 10 years’ practical experience in running a translation and interpreting agency. Her research interests include translation/ interpreting and nation-building, court interpreting, conference interpreting, corpus-based interpreting research and localisation (software and website translation).

LAMBRINE PAVLOU: (English Improvement)
Lambrine has an Honours degree in Psychology from Wits University. She completed a CELTA course (Cambridge Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) and she is a qualified English language instructor. Lambrine has over 10 years teaching experience and she has taught English to adults and children in Greece and South Africa. Lambrine believes that language is knowledge and it shapes the way we think and communicate.

WENDY HUTTON: (Operations Co-ordinator)
Wendy completed a BCom in Business Administration and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Port Elizabeth Technicon.   She spent four years consulting to higher education institutions within South Africa and Ghana.  The consulting projects included aspects such as financial viability, costing models and mergers.