“Friendship Tapes”

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29760, 1 March 1962, Page 10

“Friendship Tapes”

“Friendship tapes,” recorded by schoolchildren of the province of Saskatchewan in Canada, present music and folksongs and informal chats about the sights, sounds and activities of children’s life in that Western province. The programme has recently been broadened to include songs and descriptions of frontier life recorded by Indian and Eskimo schoolchildren of the neighbouring North-west Territories.

Exchanges are now made with school classes in Europe, Asia and the Pacific. In one typical exchange, children compared notes on Christmas celebrations in snowbound Saskatchewan and equatorial Australia and were so fascinated to hear about each other’s differing customs that

they continued the subject in a further exchange.

The recordings are made in English, but the young Canadians prepare a script to go with each tape to help children of other languages to understand their vocabulary and accents. Saskatchewan wants its children to correspond with their contemporaries in as many countries as possible It feels that there is no better way to create bonds of friendship and understanding among the young people whose opinions and attitudes will one day determine the climate of international relations. Schools interested in exchanging “Friendship tapes" should write to: Supervisor of School Broadcasts, Department of Education, Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.