Language Studies International Zürich

LSI Zurich, formerly known as Two Cities Club, was founded in 1954 and quickly became known as a reputable school, teaching with modern yet approved methods in a relaxed and communicative atmosphere. The original concept was to bring people of various professional and social backgrounds together in order to learn English. As the school expanded French, Italian, Spanish and German were added to the list of languages taught. Today, our language courses are offered in both intensive and extensive format.

The staff numbers between 30 and 40 teachers who are qualified and trained to teach their own languages. The curriculum is based on the Common European Framework and LSI Zürich works with the European Language Portfolio.

Because of the immense success of, and interest in this approach to learning English, the program was extended to include German, French, Italian and Spanish courses. In 1980 Two Cities Club started its collaboration with Language Studies International, a worldwide network of language schools. In 1998 we became a full LSI member school and this was reflected in our name change from Two Cities Club to LSI Zurich.

From the very first day classes are held in the target language, i.e. English in English, German in German, etc. Total immersion leads to maximum progress. At the beginner levels A1 & A2 (level chart), grammar plays a major role, providing, as it does, the basic structure of the language. At higher levels B1-C2 the earlier emphasis on structure takes a back seat as skills work becomes more important. The coursebooks used feature plenty of up-to-date exercises and are selected according to criteria provided by the school’s curriculum.

The main focus of all our classes remains however communication: learners use roleplays, group discussions and plenty of in- and outdoor activities in order to learn and live the language as our slogan suggests!

An offsite language course often fails to meet the needs of today's business professionals. Issues such as increased overtime or short-term business trips abroad are difficult to reconcile with regular school attendance.

Also specific linguistic needs in terms of course content are often only partly met by general weekly business classes, especially in the fields of financial, legal or insurance English.