Everywhere we went, whether it be New Zealand, Sweden, Germany, India, South America, China or elsewhere, we found groups mounting plain language campaigns.

Arriving in South Africa, we noticed that the banks all claim to write about their products and services in the plainest possible English. One man we talked to, however, gave us the stereotypical defensive reaction. He told us: "We know we need to communicate in plain English but some of our products are extremely technical and cannot be adequately described without using the appropriate nomenclature."

We referred him to some of the literature on plain language and complexity. (I'm sure his words ring bells for most of us!)

Our final stop was Australia. There we took copious notes:

1. All the major Australian law firms claimed to use plain language in precedents, and are investing substantial resources in changing the language and style of their documents.
2. Australia is now drafting its legislation in plain language. (Some are plainer than others, reports Peter Butt.)

In Italy this year, Civil Service Minister Franco Frattini, unveiled Chiaro! (it means clear) a project to make bureaucratic language understandable. "It would be useless," he said, "to translate documents and not train personnel to stop using ancient incomprehensible language." Ministries are now competing for a Chiaro! Stamp.

Many organizations in the world are now offering plain language awards. Unlike the struggle of Bunyan's pilgrim, we use rewards to inspire the results we aim for. Here are examples we learned about:

Chiaro! (Italy)
PLAIN Award (International)
Clarity Award (London)
Crystal Mark and Clear English Standard (U.K.)
California/Pennsylvania Clarity Awards (U.S.)
Wordsmith's CLARITY Goldmark (Canada)