After last week's utterances from the British government about building creative hubs blah blah I was pleased to see that the Macmillan English Dictionary's Word of the Week was garbology. I was hoping that this was the new science of studying verbal garbage as practised by civil servants, management consultants and politicians throughout the world. Unfortunately it is the much more prosaic but possibly more interesting 'study of a person or group of people by examining what they throw away'.

Anyway, this led me to look more closely at how our English Language Teaching websites and electronic resources have been developing. Given the importance of English in the world. Given the importance of language to international understanding. Given the importance of education to economic prosperity I am delighted that Macmillan is leading the industry. You just have to check out a few sites to see what I mean.

One Stop English

Macmillan English

Dictionary Magazine

Macmillan English Campus

Macmillan English for India

We've had quite a bit of interesting correspondence  on the need for scientists to communicate better. I think it applies to everyone and particularly in the UK where reticence and inability to speak other people's languages are considered virtues. Maybe this will change with  better education.