EnglishisEasy/Elinglésesfácil

The Gringh is a literary creation by the famous Dr. Seuss (the same American writer and cartoonist who created The Lorax ) and first appeared back in 1957 in a book entitled How the Grinch Stole Christmas! Depicted as a thin and tall green humanoid being with a rather large mouth and a cynical smile, the Grinch is what in literature is called an antihero. In fact he tries to sabotage his neighbors' Christmas by taking away their Christmas present but eventually he will experience a change of heart and return the presents to his neighbors. His name has become popular in some countries and is used to refer tom people with little or no Christmas spirit at all. So when in Guayaquil during Christmas time someone calls you "Grinch!" probably you need to show a kinder and more joyous Christmas spirit or stop showing the opposite.

"H appy Birthday to you, Happy ...wait, no that's not..." The term is CAROLER (spelt CAROLLER in  British English) which derives from the word CAROL.  CAROLS are, simply put, songs of joy which are sung during Christmas time. A  group  performing   in   a   public   place   or   going   from   house   to   house are common are common and such activity receives the name CAROLING or CAROLLING in British English, though really, and this is my personal opinion, no one sang Christmas Carols like Frank Sinatra (especially  Walking in  a Winter Wonderland)  or Dean Martin ( Let it Snow).

Dexterity is a special skill that allows our hands to move gracefully and more importantly to be able to perform tasks that require using your hands and be good at it such as solving certain puzzles or being able to pass a coin from one finger to the next.  Dexterity is specially useful to doctors but also to pianists or painters. Now this is another word that is not easily put into Spanish. Best I could find is HABILIDAD but it made no mention to the use of hands, an important omission considering the word DEXTERITY alludes to that precisely.  

A former student of mine, Carlos Julio Gómez, asks this one and also proposes an answer SERVE YOUR COUNTRY. The problem with HACER PATRIA is that many people, politicians in particular, have overused the term and when that happens a word loses much of its original meaning. HACER PATRIA implies that not only you must serve your country as all good citizens should. You must also go that extra mile and make a difference not only for your family and you but also all the others that share this land with you. It  means we must build where there is no shelter, fix what has been broken, defend if there are trespassers. Perhaps BE A REAL PATRIOT is closer to the real idea of what is HACER PATRIA.  Perhaps one who summed it up all perfectly was John F. Kennedy when he said: "Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country."

It looks like pizza, right? The word that best describes what in Ecuador we call TORTILLA DE HUEVOS is OMELETTE (also spelled OMELET and even OMLET). The word is obviously adopted from French.  An OMELETTE is just beaten eggs (two or three are more than enough) which then are fried and tossed just like pancakes. The nice thing about an OMELETTE is that it can be cooked adding small pieces of pepper, tomato, onions, ham and several other delicious ingredients. Our TORTILLA DE HUEVOS is pretty much that though there are people that confuse OMELETTES with Scrambled Eggs. They are not the same though because of appearance and preparation.

A DEERSTALKER is not a person and is definitely not a dangerous thing even though the word stalker is in there.  As you can see in the picture, a DEERSTALKER is a type of hat, one that is used in rural areas during hunting, deer hunting so it does represent some threat not to humans but to poor deer. Why is this hat so famous? Though never stated clearly in any of his books, Sherlock Holmes is the one who wore it whenever he was investigating a case. So close it is the association that popularly a DEERSTALKER is a symbol of detectives not hunters. 

Ms. Karen Wigby de Nieto (Continued from previous entry) 3. Many have questions about TEFL, a program you were involved with before your retirement. What makes it relevant? What can still be improved?             I have retired from administrative responsibilities, but not from teaching, directing thesis or working on projects.   TEFL is still a project I would like to work on, particularly the online program and a curriculum reform.   The TEFL program needs a good evaluation and curriculum review and I would love to do that.             As I mentioned above, there was an urgent need for a TEFL program in 2002 because there was a huge demand for English teachers and so many were only English speakers without any understanding of how students learn English.   I had left high school teaching/coordinating for UCG because I wanted to train teachers and Peter Harrington with his rapidly expanding COPEI needed trained teachers so it was a perfect match.             Today