EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

Well, if we really mean that astonishing kick some Chinese fighters display in the movies then CHINESE KICK would be the right translation. But that is not what we usually mean. In Ecuador, the disease known as  CONJUNCTIVITIS  (CONJUNTIVITIS in Spanish) is also commonly known as PATADA CHINA. Obviously, that is only a nickname and therefore we need a term with similar attributes and that would be PINK EYE.  CONJUNCTIVITIS or PINK EYE is an  inflammation  of the inner section of the  eyelids .  It is usually caused by an  infection  ( viral in origin, but apparently there is also a   bacterial type ) . Most of the time it appears first in one of the eyes, though in a matter of hours, the infection spreads to the other one. Why do we refer to PINK EYE as PATADA CHINA in Ecuador?  I would say there is a racist connotation to it, so that is how far I will go with that.

"Ecuadorian politicians are rookies compared to me!" Embezzlement is another form of fraud that, in turn, is considered a white-collar crime. It usually happens when one person is given the role of an administrator and is entrusted with other people's money and assets. Little by little (sometimes all at once) that money and assets are diverted to the accounts of such "administrator". One day this "administrator" simply disappears and it happens that those people or person's money and assets have been moved to someone's account in a bank of the Cayman Islands or some other country that allows the so-called "Bank Secrecy" and has no extradition agreement with other countries, in particular, that one where the crime was originally committed. Embezzlement is a concealed premeditated practice since the perpetrator does not want to be discovered and usually, he or she is not until it is simply too late.

Pacific Rim is a 2013 Sci-fi  film  directed by  Guillermo del Toro, the same as  The Devil's Backbone  (2001) and  Pan's Labyrinth  (2006), and also action flicks, such as  Blade II  (2002),  Hellboy  (2004).  Pacific Rim  was written by del Toro and  Travis Beacham , and has an interesting cast mixing relatively new faces with more seasoned performers such as  Charlie Hunnam ,  Idris Elba ,  Rinko Kikuchi ,  Charlie Day ,  Robert Kazinsky ,  Max Martini , and  Ron Perlman . The film is set in the near future, more specifically the 2020s. Suddenly, those countries around the Pacific are under attack by  Kaijus immense  monsters which have emerge from a  portal  between dimensions that opened up on the floor of the  Pacific Ocean . To combat the monsters, humanity makes an effort to create Jaegers: gigantic robots  controlled by two pilots whose min...

The word BERRINCHE or PATALETA is in Spanish that display of anger and frustration that usually children (and sometimes also adults) resort to when they don't get what they want. That in English is called a TANTRUM or TEMPER TANTRUM.  Little is known about the origin of this word, but the fact that is only a childish display of rage is arguable since also adults show TANTRUMS, although the reason seems to be another. Let's use the example of a former famous tennis player, Jimmy Connor, who once occupied the top player in the ATP ranking, back in the early eighties. When things started to go wrong in a game he would show his anger usually moving his racket demonstrating he was unhappy. Next his moves improved dramatically. Was it a coincidence? Not really. Apparently his TANTRUMS worked raising his energy levels, high enough so as to help him win a game though it did not always work.

Who says that only Hollywood can make great movies or that you need an impressive budget to do so? Well, Alazraki films demonstrates again that this is so untrue. With a limited budget this 2013 Mexican movie grossed more than 26 millions which makes it the most successful film of all time. It tells the story of Germán Noble (Gonzalo Vega) a millionaire and a widower that realizes a bit too late that his soon-to-be grownup children  Javier (Luis Gerardo Méndez), Bárbara (Karla Souza) y Carlos (Juan Pablo Gil)  are  nothing of what he wanted them to be, so he plans to teach them a lesson and pretends he has suddenly lost all his money so all  their cars are taken away, plus their cell phones are cut off and credit cards are cancelled. They all go to the abandoned house of Germán´s father that he never sold out of nostalgia and thus forces his children to get jobs and leave the shallow lives they had behind. Javier becomes a bus driver, Barbara a waitress and Carl...

e This is in a way another origin story. It tells us the origin of Wolverine's ties with Japan. Logan or Wolverine) has been unable to feel guilty after killing Jean Grey, and now lives in a forest somewhere in the Yukon. In his sleep he experiences nightmares where  Jean grey appears and talks to him telling him to "come to him", also repressed memories of being a prisoner of war in the 1945 Japan precisely the day the atom bomb was dropped over Nagasaki. He saved the life of a young compassionate soldier, called Yashida. One day a young Japanese girl introduces herself and says her name is Yukio. She tells him that Yashida has sent her to meet him again before he dies. Feeling intrigued Logan follows Yukio. She reveals that her employer and benefactor, Yashida, runs a multinational technology corporation. Acceding to the dying Yashida's request to say goodbye to him, Logan accompanies Yukio to Japan. Unbeknown to him there will be a lot of fighting when Logan...

Monument to Bolívar and San Martín My hometown, the city that welcomes (and shelters) everyone, literally. My 500th article had to be special somehow so what better way to celebrate than to write about my city on her foundation date.  Of course now we know that the date is inaccurate. Guayaquil was not founded by the Spaniards on a July 25th, 1535 but on August 15th, 1534 because Guayaquil was founded not once but several times with July 25th being the definitive.                                                                                          City Hall building                                                   ...

So Warner has finally understood this is potentially a huge moneymaker. Taking so long for something so evident surely says one thing about them: they are not very bright, are they? Well, having said that. This would be indeed the first time that Batman and Superman will work (or fight?) together in the big screen. Nevertheless it is not the first time they have collaborated in other media and their adventures can be found in comic books and animated movies.   The Dark Knight Returns which was first a story told by Frank Miller and them made an animated movie. It's really a Batman story set in the future after Batman has retired. Gotham has been invaded by a gang called The Mutants who cannot be defeated so Batman decides to reappear but he is different now, more ruthless, obssessed and even sadistic. Superman is sent to stop him and take him to prison but Batman is ready to take part in a fight that is perhaps more meaningful than any other in comic book history. Calmly th...

This is a 1996 movie that shows U.S. patriotism at its best. Aside from as sci-fi flick I would say it's not so bad. It is a classic alien invasion story. Enormous round starships descend from the skies and set above the main buildings in every important city in the world as though they were expecting something. Only one scientist, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum), discovers what the alien ships really mean by being floating over the cities. Levinson  tries to warn everyone but his warning is not heeded. Soon each starship shoots beams of destructive light that tears apart not only the buildings below them but most of the cities causing the annihilation of millions in just instants. What is left of the governments of the world flee to secret bases. The U.S. president (Bill Pullman) is alive and with the rest of the military they try to coordinate a world counterattack though they know that all their weapons cannot even scratch the surface of any of the alien ships and drones whi...

REGAR EL CESPED is really a simple expression. The verb to be used is none other than WATER. Though it may sound or seem odd to us, English learners, the reality is that WATER does not only mean AGUA. It may also be a verb and as such it means ECHAR AGUA or REGAR. Now, the full expression would be WATER THE LAWN. This change in meaning of a word is a common thing in English (a feature that is absent in Spanish at least) though it does not always happen or it does not happen the same way in every case. For instance, when the word is an adjective and also a noun the meaning usually remains the same as it is the case of WATER that as an adjective has a close meaning to the meaning of water, as in WATER BODY, term that perfectly translates into Spanish.

This must be the best animated JL movie to date, though really is more a Flash movie than a JL film.  It all begins with a flashback (no pun intended) which allows to see how happy Barry Allen was when his mother was alive and how in the little time they spent together she made a difference in the kind of person he was destined to be. But then on her birthday she is murdered by a mysterious figure that, at least in the movie is unrevealed. Next we are taken to the present when a team of criminals known as The Rogues, invades a museum dedicated to The Flash who appears and nullifies them with ease but then it turns out the mastermind behind this attack was Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash, a scientist from the 25th century that managed to replicate the experiment that gave Barry Allen his powers. Professor Zoom who originally admired The Flash now hates him at unimaginable levels and has set bombs all over Central City and the detonators are attached to the Rogues' bodies who ...

Fast and Furious 6, or just Furious 6, has to be one of those movies that are mega popular just because of the amazing amount of action they offer. Action, action and action but very little in terms of story.  Furious 6 is a 2013 film that continues with the adventures of a group of professional criminals led by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) who has retired following the events in Fast Five (2011). They are all now millionaires but cannot return to the States because they remain wanted felons. An agent of the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) called Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson, the Rock) offers them complete amnesty  and the chance to return home in exchange of their help. Hobbs knows that he needs special help to take down a quite efficient mercenary organization led by Owen Shaw (Luke Evans). Toretto is at first uninterested especially considering that in the past his crew faced only gangsters but not anything or anybody at that level. He changes his mind when  H...

Both terms are possible but if they accompany the word  ring  then that ring may not be equally valuable, and the explanation for that is very simple. Something that is GOLDEN only resembles gold or it is associated to it if at least in a poetic manner, e.g. The Golden Globes, the Golden Gate, a Golden Retriever, the Golden Years, Golden anniversary, the golden rule. It is obvious that at least the retriever (a dog) is not made of gold. On the other hand, we have the word GOLD which unlike GOLDEN that is an adjective is a noun. GOLDEN can never work as a noun and is always an adjective, but GOLD is a different case since it can function as both a noun and an adjective depending of the context. For the purposes here we refer to GOLD as being an adjective and  as such is meaning is "made of gold". Examples of that word being used as an adjective are: gold mine, gold rush,  gold medal. In other words, when we say  GOLDEN ring that is probably a ring that is ...

Let’s begin by saying that the three of them are verbs (regular verbs) and that all of them are put into Spanish with the same word: ASEGURAR. And though they are translated with the same word in our language that doesn’t mean they have the same meaning. Not completely at least. ASSURE is to say something with the purpose of ending all doubt or cause of worry. When you assure something, in a way you guarantee that something is certain or it’s going to be certain if it is not already so (so PROMISE is a good synonym). Here is an example: Beloved people of my country, if you have me as president then I’ll ASSURE you that I’ll devote myself to end all manner of corruption. ENSURE is basically the action of making things happen or that they become certain. It is a synonym of ASSURE. Here is an example: Thanks to this new energy plant the energy supply for our country has been ENSURED for the following twenty years. INSURE is to obtain insurance from a company in order to prote...

Not the same, unless of course we put those words in Spanish since translated they have the same meaning: ALTO. In English they are not the same or to be more precise they are not used under the same circumstances. Collocation dictates that we use TALL with people, living beings or man-made structures, e.g. The Eiffel Tower is really TALL!  or Look, h ow TALL that guy is.      If we refer to natural structures such as mountains or hills, but not trees, we will use HIGH. So for example: The Chimborazo is the HIGHest peak in Ecuador . They also have other meanings. Tall for example can also mean exaggerated or far fetched, e.g. Your story sounds like TALL tale . It may also indicate that something is difficult, e.g. Ending corruption in this country is really a TALL order. On the other hand HIGH may indicate something is really far from ground level, e.g. That window is too HIGH for us to reach . It may also mean that something is expensive, e.g. The price of...

     One of the most well-known DC characters is Catwoman. If you think of Batman you immediately remember Catwoman. Is she a hero or a villain? that has never been clearly defined and when a ranking of villains is made she is there and when a ranking of heroes is made she is there, too. Thus we could say she is both a hero and a villain though lately she is being siding with the angels. Whether as a thrill-seeking villain or a reluctant heroine, Selina Kyle (her real name), always ranks high among the sexiest heroines of all time. Here is my opinion on who played the sexiest Catwoman ever. I am designing my list starting with actresses who played the role in between the sixties and 2012. 5. Eartha Kitt. The second actress to play Catwoman in the Batman 1960 series (Julie Newmar was first). Well, in a time when African Americans were still somewhat segregated and given only minor roles Eartha landed this role for a reason and that was the sensuality she c...

The Lone Ranger has returned but perhaps not for good. In my opinion it is not because of the film. I watched it already and I can say it's worth your time and money. Sure it is not perfect and sure this is not the Lone Ranger that perhaps some segment of the audience (the older audience) expected to see.  We have to understand that Depp, as Tonto, has already an overpowering presence and thus he receives more screening time than perhaps he should be (and it's true that at times he acted as Jack Sparrow and not a Comanche Indian). Besides Armie Hammer as the Lone Ranger is not a bad actor but still is relatively a newcomer  and does not really look "heroic". On top of all the rights for the movies of this character were purchased by Walt Disney and that was not necessarily a good thing to happen. All in all the product is consistent: they offer almost two hours of fun and that is what you get. You want action, there is action; you want humor, there is humor; you...

It is really simple and yet a bit surprising for English learners.  The term is ROCKING CHAIR. What surprises most people unfamiliar with the term is that they use the word ROCK as an adjective. This is understandable if we consider that mostly the word ROCK is known here as a music style and nothing else. We might understand using the word as a verb since already in Spanish we say ROQUEAR which literally means to play ROCK.  The truth is ROCK has other meanings. As a verb it may also mean MECER. This means you can say things such as the following: "In order to calm down the baby I had to ROCK his cradle".                                                                                                          ...

There is one thing that could be said about this film: if September 11 had not happened this movie had never been made.  The problem with that attack is that in many ways it opened every one's eyes to the fact that all of us are vulnerable to be attacked if there are people with intentions evil enough to do that. Of course they must have the necessary tactical and technical expertise to set and launch such attack and the ammo to back up the whole operation.  attacking the White House is of course a crazy idea, but crazy as it is that is the premise of this 2013 film. Olympus is a code word that refers to the White House. In order for Olympus to fall a North Korean terrorist group that is secretly helped by a traitorous American agent  (Dylan Dermott) attacks the day a South Korean emissary visits the House. The operation has been carefully planned and there are also terrorists among the security guards that accompany the visiting minister. When the attack begins ch...

In Spanish it is only LA EDAD MEDIA (The Middle Age) a period that began in the fifth century with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and stretched to the fifteen century. Its end is marked by the the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, called Byzantium by then, and also by the arrival of Columbus to the American continent. In English that period is called THE MIDDLE AGES. It makes sense since we are talking about roughly a thousand years of history and thus there are "three" MIDDLE AGES or periods: the Early (from the 5th to the 10th century), the High (from the 11th to the 13th centuries) and the Late Middle Ages (from the 14th to the 16th centuries). These periods are different from one another. The Early Middle Ages was a period which saw very little growth in terms of population, trade and science (this is why this specific period is popularly known as the Dark Ages). The High Middle Ages saw great progress and the nations of that time mostly prospered which all met...

It is not called planet/star center or nucleus (it is NUCLEO in Spanish). The word is CORE or PLANETARY CORE.  The central part of a planet or a star is called CORE (also the central part of certain fruits such as the apple is called CORE). Though the CORE is in the center of the objects mentioned before, it is not the center of such objects. It is in that position but it does not constitute the center. A CORE, in the case of planets and stars, is the most internal layer of several that constitute the object itself with the SURFACE being the most external. Because of their position it is believed that the material of a CORE is extremely hot, much more than the rest of the planet or star. The materials that constitute the CORE may stay in a constant state of liquefaction because of the high temperatures and the tremendous weight that have to withstand because the atmospheric attraction is much stronger there. It is believed that Earth core has two sections: an outer core that...

Eight players, each one with a different role. Four magicians, a debunker, a millionaire and a police detective will move themselves as one moves pawns in a chess board.  The Eye is an secret organization made up by magicians who work following their own agenda One day four talented magicians played by  Jesse Eisenberg , a street  m agicia n,  Woody Harrelson , a  m entalist, Isla Fisher   as Henley Reeves , an  e scape artist , and  Dave Franco   as Jack Wilder , a street  m agician are contacted by this mysterious organization to assign them a mission. They will be The Four Horsemen and their mission seems at first to become modern Robin hoods but really is another, one the audience will find out as the film progresses. The film director (Louis Leterrier) makes sure to set false clues to what is happening and thus deceive the audience. One of those falsoe clues is making the viewer assume that the benefactor is the millionaire Arth...

I rarely make comments on films from countries other than the United States or Ecuador because not many of those are brought to be offered to the Guayaquilean audience. And also I  must confess I don´t know much about other countries' film industry so as to venture an opinion. But Le Chef  is different. This 2012 French comedy is truly worth your time. With Jean Reno (Alexander Lagarde) in one of the two leading roles and Michael Youn (Jacky Bonnot) in the other.Lagarde is a famous chef who works for a company whose new CEO is unkind to him is looking for a good excuse to replace him. Lagarde feels intimidated and is anxious because soon important critics will visit his restaurant and if there is nothing extraordinary to impress them he will lose his job. Jacky is a talented but hard luck chef who is obsessed with cuisine and is a perfectionist to the point of exasperation which has caused him to lose one job after another regardless of his obvious talent. In  order ...

"Hey, human. If you call me CALICO, what should I call you?" The term in English is CALICO cat. Now the word CALICO does exist in Spanish and it is CALICÓ with an accent but for some reason, no one uses that word (at least not in Guayaquil). Apparently the word is originally French from which it was taken into English.  How the term crossed over to Spanish is still unclear. So it seems that we will have to get used to the term or keep saying GATO DE MANCHAS CAFÉ, NEGRAS Y ANARANJADAS as we have so far.

There are more words in English than in Spanish and in many ways English is also more versatile than several of the other languages currently in use around the world including Spanish, meaning for example that there are things that can only be said and understood under the parameters of that language and not another. Nevertheless, as there are expressions that are exclusive of English there are certainly words that only exist in each language and Spanish is no exception. One such case is the word SENDOS that has no equivalent in English. Here is an example of its use: Seis guerreros salieron del castillo llevando sendas  espadas. If translated into English the sentence would probably read as follows: Six warriors came out of the castle and each one was wielding a sword.  The word SENDOS (masculine) or SENDAS (feminine) is an adjective that when used indicates that the noun it modifies exists in equal number as another mentioned before in the same sentence. In ...

One thing about this movie is how unpredictable it can be. Danny Boyle, the director of this movie has made every possible effort to make this film as unpredictable as possible. It begins with an auctioneer called Simon (James McAvoy) an auctioneer who has met another man called Franck (Vincent Cassel)  and together have planned to steal a picture by Goya whose value in the black market is extremely high. During the carefully planned heist several things happened that were not planned. Simon who took the painting, hid it somewhere but because he he was hit on his head he forgets where exactly he put it. Franck gets furious and threatens to kill Simon aided by his henchmen but Simon has truly forgotten. In despair Franck tells Simon that he has heard hypnosis might help him remember and puts under his consideration several specialist. Simon chooses, apparently at random, Elizabeth Lamb (Rosario Dawson). Elizabeth is indeed the one who can help Simon remember where the painting i...

Australia is unique in more than one way. It is an island, one so big that is actually considered a continent. It is a continental mass that is occupied by one single country also known as a Australia (whose territory also includes Tasmania and other numerous small islands), the capital of which is Canberra. For a long time it was only inhabited by aborigines. It is believed these first Australians lived peacefully in the territory for about 40,000 years until Dutch explorers arrived in 1606. The Dutch were followed by the British who claimed this territory at some point in the late 1800s. Slowly but steadily the Europeans settlers grew in number. Now the number of Australians, which also includes the aborigine descendants, is around the twenty-five million inhabitants.  Australia has never had the convoluted history that other European colonies had in order to become independent and that is perhaps because it did not need to. There were no wars or anything like that but a lon...