Let's Speak English was a Canadian

Television in Canada

Television in Canada officially began with the opening of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, are strongly influenced by the American media, perhaps...

 language instruction television series which aired on CBC Television

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

 from 1961 to 1962.

Premise

This series taught English as a foreign or second language. It was hosted by Betty Fullerton, John Wevers, and as of the seventh episode, Barry Callaghan. Fullerton was a Scarborough, Ontario

Scarborough, Ontario

Scarborough is a dissolved municipality within the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Geographically, it comprises the eastern part of Toronto. It is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the west by Victoria Park Avenue, on the north by Steeles Avenue East, and on the east by the Rouge River...

 secondary school teacher while the other hosts were based at the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

. Michael Kay and Donald Theall from the same university served as series consultants.

Production

Let's Speak English was a co-production of the CBC, the Metropolitan Education Television Association, Canadian Scene (multicultural news agency), Ontario's provincial citizenship division, and the federal Department of Citizenship and Immigration

Citizenship and Immigration Canada

Citizenship and Immigration Canada is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for issues dealing with immigration and citizenship...

. Peggy Nairn Liptrott produced the first four episodes, then Rena Elmer served as producer for the remainder of the series.

English language concepts were communicated with sketches and mimicry, demonstrating language use in ordinary situations.

Scheduling

This half-hour series was broadcast on three days per week, on Saturdays and Sundays at 12:00 p.m. and on Wednesdays at 11:30 a.m. between 7 October 1961 to 11 April 1962. The Wednesday episodes provided a review of material from the weekend episodes.