At a recent meeting of language teachers in Swansea there was much interest in the various teaching and learning resources available from the many publishers who were displaying their wares during the breaks in the sessions.

(Young) Teachers eager to share their experiences from their own institutions were vying for the opportunity to describe their favoured options.

During the lunch break, teachers huddled in groups each bubbling away with the latest buzzwords and jargon. How their varying systems integrated with the other teaching methods that were adopted by the school. They described the levels of interest shown by students and their success rates.

One more senior and experienced Head of Languages was approached and asked what system they used at his school. He told them they used the ECI system. The inquirer went away and shared this information with others and during the remainder of the afternoon discussions went on and the term "ECI" could be heard every so often as peope spoke to one another and indicated that one school was having great success with this system.

As the sessions were ending, at the final coffee break, one group approached the Head of Languages and asked for more information about the System. He explained it was a good system, especially successful with the less able and certainly very useful, especially in afternoon sessions. The group explained they had never hear of ECI and none of the publishers present had any details. Could he give them some contact details or further information, indeed, what did ECI stand for? Educational Colouring In! Brilliant on a Friday afternoon!