EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

Great outfits, aren´t they? An OUTFIT is a set of clothes you put on when you go out. The most common translation of that word in Spanish is TRAJE but that could be rather inaccurate since for us a TRAJE is this formal combination of pants, a jacket and a tie (a formal SUIT, in other words).  As you can see in the picture all these girls look fantastic in their OUTFITS. In Spanish we would never, or at least rarely, say: "Esas chicas lucen fantásticas en esos TRAJES." We would say ROPAS but not TRAJES.  LA COMBINACION DE ROPAS QUE UNO ELIGE DE ACUERDO A LA OCASIÓN would perhaps be more faithful to the idea of what an OUTFIT is.

Complete name or real name, however you want to put it.    That would be BALLPOINT PEN. It is called like that because unlike quills or fountain pens there is a small circumference that allows just the right amount of  ink to come out and make the desired impression on the paper, the act we call writing. The BALLPOINT PEN was invented, at least in the shape it has these days, by Laszlo Biró, a newspaper editor from Hungary back in the early 1930s.

Animal Farm written by George Orwell (1903-1950) is one of those essential readings that one cannot simply put down. It is an allegory that aims to reflect one of the most relevant events of the history of the XX century: the Russian revolution. At the beginning of the early century, Russia was the largest monarchy in the world. The Czars were all powerful but did not perform so well as governors and the situation was unbearable leading to a revolution that ousted the czars once and for all replacing them with governors that were more attuned with the ideals of a more perfect and fair society, or at least that was the idea.  Soon those who were the ones that had led the revolution died or were ostracized to be replaced now by opportunists who were just a different form of tyranny. Animal Farm  depicts those events disguised in the story of a simple farm where animals are constantly mistreated by their human masters. The animals organized and revolted to expel humans and t...

Though you do not know him, you do know his voice for Paul Bettany is the actor who lends his voice to Tony Stark's computerized servant called J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System). It seems that Bettany will have a much bigger role in the next installment of the Avengers when Stark in order to reinforce Earth defenses creates a robot called Ultron but to do that he uses J.A.R.V.I.S. computer structure. As all good computers in the world of the silver screen, once it becomes sentient it decides to fight its creator and the rest of human species. It is then Ultron and not Thanos who is the main villain in Avengers 2.  At this point this is still a rumor. The history of the Avengers is rich and has lots of potential to be exploited. 

WHATCHAMACALLIT? is actually the short form of a longer expression: What You Might Call It? It is used when you are unable to remember  a specific word as in the following example: In order to finish this operation we will need a special tool, a...WHATCHAMACALLIT?...  I can't remember! WHATCHAMACALLIT? is therefore ¿COMO MISMO ES QUE SE DICE? It is also the name of a chocolate bar produced by Hershey's.

The Banishment of Adam and Eve The word is To BANISH. When someone is BANISHED is expelled from a country usually after receiving an order issued by the government of that country, usually that person's own.  BANISHMENT (DESTIERRO in Spanish) has for long been used by many tyrants throughout History as a way to get rid of "uncomfortable" people. One problem, this word poses for Spanish-speaking English learners is how similar the spelling of BANISHis to that of VANISH (DESAPARECER). In Latin America both B and V have practically the same sound though in Spain that problem does not occur. 

This movie is apparently based on real events and there is also a lot of historical liberties included in the screenplay. It begins in the late 40s with Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), a mobster who has become quite powerful and has made of Los Angeles his base of operations. Cohen's power is at his peak since almost everyone who can be bought is already in his payroll. One member of the police, John O´Mara (Josh Brolin) believes in what is right and despises Cohen. One day, O'Mara receives from one of his superiors one order that is his dream come true. Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) asks O'Mara to start a secret squad to stop Cohen`s operations and therefore free Los Angeles from all the criminal activity that had alreayd taken over other cities at the time. This secret group, of which there is no historical record, included Segeant Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), Officer Kennard (Robert Patrick), Officer Ramírez (Michael Peña) among others. It is thanks to this squad that Los ...