EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

Smile means Sonrisa and Grin also means Sonrisa. What is the difference then?  A grin is a really a broad  smile, one in which you show your teeth. A smile with your lips closed is only that, a smile. Another difference is that when you grin you may not do it out of happiness necessarily. You may grin if you feel anxiety in which case this expression is called a Grimace. Sometimes, we humans use these facial expresssions to threat as for example animals would do. When this happens a smile is accompanied by a movement of the upper lip and of course is not a sign of happiness but of repressed violence and if such is the case we call that expression a Snarl. Again the problem is in Spanish since for us all of those are smiles (though we would say a Snarl is "una mueca agresiva" and a Grimace we would be called "una expresión de ansiedad"). Famous grinners are the Chesire Cat of Alice in Wonderland;  Joker, Batman's nemesis, and also any model appearing in

The Backward Design is a framework proposed to redefine the traditional way we teach in class. It  is a method   in which we set our educational goals first and then we choose what techniques we will use to give instruction and also the way we will evaluate our students. The Backward Design of curriculum has three sections. We should begin by identifying what results we want to obtain. Next we have to ask ourselves what levels of evidence would indicate that learning has taken place and if such learning has been successful or not. Last but not least we have to decide the strategies and activities to be used in order to reach the results we want.

Is there a place where you can find Ernest Hemingway, Scott Fitzgerald and Gertrude Stein all together? Obviously not since they are all dead, but if there were one that place would be, and was in fact, Paris. Of course, only if you have some knowledge of American Literature you know we are talking about some of the greatest writers ever. To have the opportunity of meeting them would be any aspiring writer’s dream, and that is what happens to Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) who is visiting Paris with his fiancée and her parents. Gil’s life is at a crossroads and he is unsure about what to do. He wants to pursue his career as a writer and at the same time he wants to marry his beautiful fiancée who simply does not share his interests. One night a confused Gil gets lost and tired and in despair he just sits down on a sidewalk when suddenly a classic car stops by and some people from inside invites him to get in. An even more confused Gil mechanically accepts and magically he gets transporte

This entry is not about that great novel by Jane Austen ( Sense and Sensibility) . It's about the problems Spanish speakers experience related to the use of the words  Sensible and Sensitive which are not the same.   Something that is Sensible makes sense or someone who is Sensible shows good judgment and someone that is Sensitive has very “vulnerable” feelings and can easily get depressed. The problem is in Spanish   since the word Sensible means Sensitive. "¡ No seas tan sensible!" would be " Don't be so Sensitive !" The word Sensible has then an entirely different meaning in Spanish. Sensible  would be Sensato whereas Sense would be Sensatez.  Definitely Sense is a quality quite uncommon in most human beings (myself included) but it is worse not to demonstrate any Sensitivity at all.

Neil Armstrong died on August 25, 2012 at age 82. When you think of it it is impossible not to consider that one of our most precious primary sources is gone. The things he lived through probably can not be documented as they should. How many men can say they have actually been on the moon and returned? How many have seen the Earth from a perspective similar to the one we use to observe the Moon? How many can say that they have been in two different worlds literally? Among  the members of that very select group, Neil stands out because he was a man with no ambitions to exploit his image and become another celebrity.  The fact that he was an astronaut by itself shows how extraordinary he was. Armstrong never came back to the dead and silent world we call Luna, but he did not  need to since he did not go there as a tourist in the first place but as  the best man for the job. Now Neil  Armstrong is dead and  he  is in a realm that is in many ways new to him (that is if we are to be

One other situation English learners (who are also Spanish speakers) must confront when learning the target language is the fact that some English nouns lack a plural form while in spanish the same word is usually pluralized. That happens with some nouns that are Countable in Spanish and therefore have a plural form while in English those nouns are Uncountable. Here are some examples:                                                                                                                                                                  SPANISH                           ENGLISH Consejo (s)                          Advice                         Chisme (s)                           Gossip  Deber (es)                            Homework  Mueble (s)                           Furniture  Noticia (s)                            News Ruido (s)                              Noise In particular  a learner  has o be careful  with words such as Homework since it is on

Who else but Lucille Ball? This actress was one of those few people that brought so much happiness to so many people by doing what she loved the most: acting. And no one can compare to her since for some reason pretty women do not step into comedy the same way she did. Lucy was a queen of physical comedy (her sequence with Harpo is amazing!) and she could make gestures with her face that surely make Jim Carrey pale with envy every time he sees them. Yes, it was her time during the "I Love Lucy" series that was her best and not much of the productions she starred before or after that is remembered by fans, but still that alone is more than enough to guarantee her place among all the other Hollywood stars past and present. And this is my favorite sequence: Lucy always wanted to appear on TV but her husband, who was in the showbiz, always avoided giving her any chance because she had no talent at all. One day she gets wind that her husband needs a girl for a commercial in the