EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

"¿Cuál? ¿cuál?"     Si usted ha tomado la decisión de aprender inglés sin duda se ha  planteado la posibilidad de ir a algún centro de idiomas donde pueda captar el idioma. Es posible que haya muchas opciones en el lugar donde vive sobre todo si es una ciudad densamente poblada. Generalmente los institutos de idiomas tienen la tendencia a concentrarse en lugares con mayor población, pero también ciudades pequeñas pueden contar con excelentes academias. De no ser así, podría considerar la posibilidad de aprender el inglés mediante el uso de algún servicio online. Antes de elegir una academia de inglés averigue si esta tiene un prestigio bien ganado. ¿Hay testimonios de personas que han estudiado ahí, se han graduado y luego han usado con éxito lo que aprendieron? Si es así entonces ese podría ser el lugar que está buscando. Claro que hay otras consideraciones que hacer como cuánto usted puede pagar por ejemplo.  -No es necesario pagar demasiado para aprender inglés, p...

                          Tell your students that there are two things that are not true about English: a. "English is too difficult to learn."  Especially when you are working with teens or adults, they will tell you this more often than not. I always tell them that English is indeed difficult, but not much more than Spanish for example. Anyone can learn English, but perhaps the best thing to do is to start with the basics since most of your students will come to you after several failed attempts. I also tell them that we are in this together: we are a team and I need them to work with me so we can accomplish this objective as it should be. b. "I am not good for English" After years of trying to learn, many English learners conclude they are the problem, and perhaps they are right but not the way they imagine. Teach your students to see themselves as for what they really are: individuals with their own needs and with...

Well, it's not Netflix, but something is STREAMING.   STREAMING refers to a transmission of information   in     the form of videos, images, listening tracks or plain text.   In meaning it is similar to Flowing since originally the   term referred to how current water moved from its source   to its final destination, hence the analogy that gave it a   new meaning.  In Spanish the term would be TRANSMISIÓN, but for some reason many prefer and keep the English term and say Streaming. Quite often some of them even mispronounce the word and add an extra vowel before the initial S of the word which is the same vowel sound as in the word pen. 

"No...we're not here to enforce the CURFEW. We lost some money. Have you seen it?" When people have to remain off the streets for a number of hours (usually at night) we call that TOQUE DE QUEDA. This law is usually temporary in nature and is issued during times of civil unrest or some other reason of an equal status. This entry, for example, was written shortly after. the Coronavirus outbreak in Ecuador which led to a TOQUE DE QUEDA. Unlike Spanish, in English to say TOQUE DE QUEDA you only need one word: CURFEW.

"Wait! I''m a Gringa. I'm not supposed to be in this MINGA. Uh! Never mind...." A MINGA DE LIMPIEZA is basically community work to clean or improve the surroundings of the place where you live. It is not mandatory to participate though you are expected to do so. MINGAS play a social role in the community. They strenghen the habit of sharing and give a stronger sense of purpose to the community. Practiced in several Latin american countries, they usually end up with food for all those who pitched in. There is no direct translation for this word in English, FREE FARM LABOR or COMMUNITY WORK are closest in meaning.

"And how would they pronounce ALICATE in English? Aleekeit?" The word PLAYO doesn't really exist, at least not in standard Spanish.  It is a term mostly Ecuadorians use to refer to a tool that is known as ALICATE. Therefore, the title of this entry should be: "How do you say ALICATE in English?" I used the word PLAYO because it is an interesting example of a Barbarism, a word that is taken from one language and used in another keeping the original pronunciation, but oftentimes not the same spelling. ALICATE or PLAYO is PLIERS in English.

"This should be called Benchclicking and not BENCHMARKING." BENCHMARKING is a strategy mostly used in business to evaluate the performance of a company by comparing it with how another company, usually a more successful one, is doing. This other company then becomes the standard to be surpassed. BENCHMARKING is not only used in business but pretty much in every field where some improvement is needed. As such, BENCHMARKING cannot be put into one word in Spanish and the closest term in meaning would be something like EVALUACION COMPARATIVA. Perhaps the lack of a better term would explain why several Spanish-speaking businesspeople are also using the word in English to refer to this procedure.