Premise

The series focuses on the adult students of the English as a Foreign Language class in a London school. The classes take place in the early evening, and are taught by Mr. Brown, though on occasion other individuals take over the class if he is not available. The class consists of foreigners with varying degrees of English proficiency. The humour of the show is derived from the students misunderstanding English w ords or terms, and plays up to the cultural stereotype of their individual nation of origin.

Season One takes place over a full school year, starting with Mr. Brown being hired by the Headmistress Miss Courtney, and ends with the students sitting for their Lower Cambridge Certificate. Season Two begins at the start of the next school year, with all ten previous students returning after having failed their exam, and two new students joining them, for a total of twelve. Season One and Two primarily took place within the classroom, but the later seasons explored settings outside of the school.
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Production

The show was cancelled in 1979 by Michael Grade, then LWT's Deputy Controller of Entertainment, who considered the stereotyping offensive. Nevertheless the series was sold to other countries, including Pakistan, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Singapore. It was also one of the first British TV programmes shown in South Africa after the end of the boycott by Equity. It was resurrected briefly for the export market by an independent producer in the mid 1980s. Some ITV companies didn't show any of the episodes made in 1986. Only Granada transmitted the final 13 episodes consecutively as a complete series.

Various international television shows based on the premise of Mind Your Language have followed the original series. Among them are What a Country! (US), Zaban Sambhal Ke (India), Zaban Sambhal Kai (Pakistan) and Second Chance! (Nigeria).

Recording Locations

The majority of recording sessions for the first three series took place on Tuesday evenings in Studio Two at The London Studios. The 1986 resurrected series was filmed at Uxbridge Technical College, Middlesex.

Episodes
See also: List of Mind Your Language episodes

Transmission details

* Series One (13) 30 December 1977-24 March 1978 · Friday 7pm (ITV London region)
* Series Two (8) 7 October-25 November 1978 · Saturday mostly 6pm (ITV London region)
* Series Three (8) 27 October-15 December 1979 · Saturday mostly 6.45pm (ITV London region)
* Series Four (13) 4 January-15 December 1986 · Saturday 2:15pm (ITV Granada region)

DVD releases

The series was released as a boxed set on Region 2 DVD in 2003, and on Region 1 DVD in 2004. However, this set excludes the Season 1 episode Kill Or Cure, the Season 2 episode Don't Forget The Driver, the Season 3 episode Guilty Or Not Guilty? and the entirety of Season 4. An alternate boxed set was released by Network DVD in November 2007, containing the complete Seasons 1 to 3. The remaining fourth series has yet to be released on DVD.

Cast and characters

School staff

* Flag of England Jeremy Brown, portrayed by Barry Evans, is the English teacher and focal point of most of the series. He is a B.A. from Oxford University. He is hired in the series pilot, in which he is warned that the previous teacher was driven insane by the students. Mr. Brown is up to the challenge, and often has to put up with the students' often literal interpretations of the English language. Despite his frustrations with the students, he grows fond of them and often goes out of his way to help them and vice versa. In the 12th episode, he told his students of how he was left on an orphanage In Jeremy Street 30 years ago and grew up without any parents, a possible reference to Evans' own childhood. He suspected that Sidney is his father after he heard that Sidney left his baby in the same orphanage.Unfortunately(or fortunately),his baby turned out to be a girl.

* Flag of England Miss Dolores Courtney, portrayed by Zara Nutley, is the school's pompous and tight-fisted principal. She thinks poorly of Mr. Brown and his abilities as a teacher, and often drops in unannounced into his class to check on the students' progress. She also is a bit of a feminist and believes that women can do better at anything than men. Over time she grows fond of Mr. Brown as well as his students.

* Flag of England Sidney, portrayed by Tommy Godfrey (Season 1 - 3), also known as Sid, is the caretaker of the school. He is a London Cockney who frequently speaks in slang rhyme. He is also hard-of-hearing resulting in frequent misunderstandings. He becomes a father figure and friend to Mr. Brown and the male students of his class. One episode even briefly presents the possibility that Sidney is Mr Brown's real father.

* Flag of England Gladys, portrayed by Iris Sadler (Season 1 - 3), is the old lady in charge of the tea room at the school. She is, in contrast to Miss Courtney, affable and friendly towards Sidney, Mr. Brown and the students. She takes Miss Courtney's domineering attitude in stride, and gets along well with everyone.

Students

* Flag of Italy Giovanni Capello, portrayed by George Camiller (Season 1 - 4), is an Italian cook, the class's loudest student and de-facto class monitor. He is best friends with Max, who becomes his flatmate. Giovanni's main English problem is understanding metaphors and large words, though he often answers wrongly on purpose to amuse the class. When shocked or surprised, he often remarks "Santa Maria" or "Holy Ravioli", and also often says "Okey kokey" instead of "OK".

* Flag of Germany Anna Schmidt, portrayed by Jacki Harding, is a stereotypical 1970s German and an au pair. In her introduction, she refers to "German efficiency", and accordingly Anna is a hardworking student, occasionally asking legitimate questions and as the series progresses, answering Mr. Brown's questions correctly. Her main problem is mixing "V" and "W" sounds.

* Flag of the People's Republic of China Chung Su-Lee, portrayed by Pik-Sen Lim (Season 1 - 3), is a secretary at the Chinese Embassy. She is never seen without her little red book of Mao, which she often quotes from. She constantly mixes up her "R"s and "L"s. Early in the series, she had a fierce ideological rivalry with Taro, her Japanese classmate, but later on the series, he often springs to defend her when a character insults her or China. One example was when on episode 22, a Scotland student insulted Su-Lee during her quotations of Chairman Mao, that was when Taro came to defend her.

* Flag of Japan Taro Nagazumi, portrayed by Robert Lee (Season 1 - 3) is a Japanese electronics representative. He has a reasonable command of English, but has a habit of adding "-o" to every word he says. Early in the series he is at odds with Su-Lee due to Japan and China's own political differences in the 1970s, but becomes a close friend of hers later on. He is never seen without his camera.

* Flag of India Jamila Ranjha, portrayed by Jamila Massey (Season 1 - 3), is an Indian housewife from Simla. When she first joins the class she can barely speak English, and needs Ali to translate her Urdu, but by series 3, she has become one of the better English speakers. She often calls Mr. Brown "Masterjee",and her catchphrase early in the series is "god havening". During class, she is mostly found knitting. As a Christian, she avoids getting involved in the arguments between Ali and Ranjeet.

* Flag of Greece Maximillian Andrea Archimedes Papandrious, portrayed by Kevork Malikyan (Season 1 - 3), is a Greek shipping office worker from Athenes, and is often paired with Giovanni. He is attracted to Danielle but as the show progresses the three became a gang of sorts. Max tends to misunderstand metaphors and large words. He also has a heavy accent, which causes him to add "H" to almost every word he says. Later, he shares his flat with Giovanni.

* Flag of Spain Juan Cervantes, portrayed by Ricardo Montez, is a Spanish bartender with an optimistic streak. Juan is always laughing at himself, confident of his answers even when they are completely wrong. Early in the series Juan speaks almost no English, and answers everything with "por favor" (please), necessitating Giovanni to translate some key terms for him. Juan's English improves as the series went on, but he remained one of the worst speakers, often speaking a mix of English and Spanish. He cares a great deal for Mr. Brown, whom he considers almost family.

* Flag of India Ranjeet Singh, portrayed by Albert Moses, is a London Underground worker from Punjab in India and a very devoted Sikh. He constantly argues with Ali, who is a Pakistani Muslim. He tends to mix up his general knowledge, and upon being corrected he always puts his hands together for "a thousand apologies".

* Flag of France Danielle Favre, portrayed by Françoise Pascal (Season 1 - 3), is an amorous French au pair who instantly grabs the attention of all men, including Mr. Brown. Her good looks often distract Giovanni and Max from their answers, while Mr. Brown is often found in seemingly incriminating positions with her. She is annoyed when Ingrid Svenson joins the class, instigating a rivalry for Mr. Brown's attention.

* Flag of Pakistan Ali Nadeem, portrayed by Dino Shafeek (Season 1 - 3), is one of the first students that Mr. Brown meets at the school. He is originally from Lahore, Pakistan, although he once stated he grew up in Delhi. Never seen without his Jinnah cap, he is the most vocal of the students and often literally misinterprets everything said by others. As a Pakistani Muslim he has a vocal and occasionally physical rivalry with Ranjeet, who is an Indian Sikh. By the middle of Season 2, although they continue to argue, Ali's rivalry with Ranjeet becomes less malicious, and they are on occasion able to work together without complaint. Ali's typical catch phrase is "oh blimey!", "squeeze me please!" and also "jolly good".

* Flag of Sweden Ingrid Svensson, portrayed by Anna Bergman (Season 2 and 4), is a Swedish au pair who joins the class at the beginning of Season 2. She is attractive and straightforward about her attraction to Mr. Brown, sparking a rivalry between her and Danielle. Her main problem with English is word order, often getting words mixed up, such as "you for I question answer". She transfers schools at the end of Season 2, but returns in the independently produced Season 4.

* Flag of Hungary Zoltán Szabó, portrayed by Gabor Vernon (Season 2), is a Hungarian student who only appears during Season 2. He has a very basic level of English and requires a phrasebook for everything. He picks up slang quickly, most of which comes from Giovanni and Juan. At the end of series 2, he goes back to Hungary. His typical catchphase is to say "Bocsánat?" [pronounced "bochanot", Hungarian word for 'Sorry', 'Excuse me'] to everything said to him in English.

* In the fourth season, Mr. Brown and Miss Courtney were still at the school, as were Anna, Giovanni, Ingrid, Juan and Ranjeet. New students included:

* Flag of Greece Maria Papandrious, portrayed by Jenny Lee-Wright

* Michelle Dumas portrayed by Marie-Elise Grepne
* Farrukh Azzam portrayed by Raj Patel
* Fu Wong Chang portrayed by Vincent Wong
* Rita portrayed by Sue Bond
* Henshawe portrayed by Harry Littlewood
Wikipedia

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Today, I’d like to talk with you about a subject that I know is on everyone’s mind, and that’s the state of our economy. Yesterday, we received a report on our Gross Domestic Product. That’s a measure of our overall economic performance. The report showed that in the first few months of this year, the recession we faced when I took office was even deeper than anyone thought at the time. It told us how close we were to the edge.

But it also revealed that in the last few months, the economy has done measurably better than expected. And many economists suggest that part of this progress is directly attributable to the Recovery Act. This and the other difficult but important steps that we have taken over the last six months have helped put the brakes on this recession.

We took unprecedented action to stem the spread of foreclosures by helping responsible homeowners stay in their homes and pay their mortgages. We helped revive the credit markets and open up loans for families and small businesses. And we enacted a Recovery Act that put tax cuts directly into the pockets of middle-class families and small businesses; extended unemployment insurance and health insurance for folks who have lost jobs; provided relief to struggling states to prevent layoffs of teachers and police officers; and made investments that are putting people back to work rebuilding and renovating roads, bridges, schools, and hospitals.

Now, I realize that none of this is much comfort for Americans who are still out of work or struggling to make ends meet. And when we receive our monthly job report next week, it is likely to show that we are continuing to lose far too many jobs in this country. As far as I’m concerned, we will not have a recovery as long as we keep losing jobs. And I won’t rest until every American who wants a job can find one.

But history shows that you need to have economic growth before you have job growth. And the report yesterday on our economy is an important sign that we’re headed in the right direction. Business investment, which had been plummeting in the past few months, is showing signs of stabilizing. This means that eventually, businesses will start growing and hiring again. And that’s when it will really feel like a recovery to the American people.

This won’t happen overnight. As I’ve said before, it will take many more months to fully dig ourselves out of a recession – a recession that we’ve now learned was even deeper than anyone thought. But I’ll continue to work every day, and take every step necessary, to make sure that happens. I also want to make sure that we don’t return to an economy where our growth is based on inflated profits and maxed-out credit cards – because that doesn’t create a lot of jobs. Even as we rescue this economy, we must work to rebuild it stronger than before. We’ve got to build a new foundation strong enough to withstand future economic storms and support lasting prosperity. Next week, I’ll be talking about that new foundation when I head to Elkhart County in Indiana – a city hard hit not only by the economic crisis of recent months but by the broader economic changes of recent decades. For communities like Elkhart to thrive, we need to recapture the spirit of innovation that has always moved America forward.

That means once again having the best-educated, highest skilled workforce in the world. That means a health care system that makes it possible for entrepreneurs to innovate and businesses to compete without being saddled with skyrocketing insurance costs. That means leading the world in building a new clean energy economy with the potential to unleash a wave of innovation – and economic growth – while ending our dependence on foreign oil. And that means investing in the research and development that will produce the technologies of the future – which in turn will help create the industries and jobs of the future.

Innovation has been essential to our prosperity in the past, and it will be essential to our prosperity in the future. But it is only by building a new foundation that we will once again harness that incredible generative capacity of the American people. All it takes are the policies to tap that potential – to ignite that spark of creativity and ingenuity – which has always been at the heart of who we are and how we succeed. At a time when folks are experiencing real hardship, after years in which we have seen so many fail to take responsibility for our collective future, it’s important to keep our eyes fixed on that horizon.

Every day, I hear from Americans who are feeling firsthand the pain of this recession; these are folks who share their stories with me in letters and at town hall meetings; folks who remain in my mind and on my agenda each and every day. I know that there are countless families and businesses struggling to just hang on until this storm passes. But I also know that if we do the things we know we must, this storm will pass. And it will yield to a brighter day.

Great writing begins—and ends—with the sentence.

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More Than Just a String of Words

Building Great Sentences revives the sentence-oriented approach to studying writing. Unlike common nuts-and-bolts approaches to discussing writing, this course provides a greater context for what makes sentences great. You investigate how to recognize the mechanics of the sentences you read and write, you learn how language works on your thoughts and emotions, and you discover basic strategies to sharpen your ability to recognize great sentences and make your own everyday writing more effective.

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Explore a Vast World of Sentences

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Avoid Dense Grammar

Building Great Sentences provides you with key insights into the craft of writing, but it never becomes a dull grammar lesson. Rather, the course is designed as a study of sentences within the larger framework of prose style and writing theory.

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1. A Sequence of Words
2. Grammar and Rhetoric
3. Propositions and Meaning
4. How Sentences Grow
5. Adjectival Steps
6. The Rhythm of Cumulative Syntax
7. Direction of Modification
8. Coordinate, Subordinate, and Mixed Patterns
9. Coordinate Cumulative Sentences
10. Subordinate and Mixed Cumulatives
11. Prompts of Comparison
12. Prompts of Explanation
13. The Riddle of Prose Rhythm
14. Cumulative Syntax to Create Suspense
15. Degrees of Suspensiveness
16. The Mechanics of Delay
17. Prefab Patterns for Suspense
18. Balanced Sentences and Balanced Forms
19. The Rhythm of Twos
20. The Rhythm of Threes
21. Balanced Series and Serial Balances
22. Master Sentences
23. Sentences in Sequence
24. Sentences and Prose Style

Professor of English and Collegiate Fellow
Director of the General Education Literature Program
The University of Iowa

Brooks Landon is a Professor of English and Collegiate Fellow at The University of Iowa and Director of the University of
Iowa General Education Literature Program. From 1999 to 2005, Professor Landon served as chair of the Iowa English
Department. He received his B.A. in English from Centre College of Kentucky and his M.A. and Ph.D. from The University
of Texas at Austin.
Professor Landon has published widely in the fields of science fiction and contemporary American literature. His books
include Science Fiction After 1900: From the Steam Man to the Stars; The Aesthetics of Ambivalence: Rethinking Science
Fiction in the Age of Electronic (Re)Production; and Thomas Berger. He researched, wrote, hosted, and coproduced Watch
the Sky: The American Science Fiction Movie, a 13-week series on science fiction film that was produced and broadcast by
Iowa Public Television in 1983. He is a member of the Executive Committee of The University of Iowa’s Nanoscience and
Nanotechnology Institute. He has taught courses in contemporary American fiction, literature and culture of 20th
-century
America, modern fiction, hypertext fiction and scholarship, science fiction, nonfiction writing, and electronic textuality.
Since 1978, he has regularly offered a prose style course focused on the sentence.