The ELI Weekly
Out and About: Hidden Treasure in Gainesville
by Jinoh Yoo
Do you know that there are old hidden treasures in the creek in Gainesville? On New Year’s day, I went to a small creek in the Loblolly Woods Park in Gainesville. Loblolly Woods Park is a small nature park that is located on the northern side of the campus. Inside the park, there is a small creek. If you dig the bottom of the creek with a sifter and wash the sand out, you will find old shark teeth that have been buried at the bottom for a long time. In the past, most lands of Florida were underneath sea level. That’s why I could find shark teeth at the creek. When I first heard my friend’s suggestion of going to a park to find shark teeth, I felt very weird. After I went to a park and found some shark teeth, I felt like I am in a gold rush era. I noticed that day that there are more hidden treasures in Gainesville than I expected. There are many hidden wonderful places in Gainesville. You might want to go to big cities in Florida such as Miami or Orlando, but I want you to know that there are many good places in Gainesville too.
CIP Weekday Activities
Sign up for all activities here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-student25
Weekend Activity
Saturday February 19th – Dave & Buster’s Arcade – 11:30am – 3:00pm
Come play arcade games with friends, win tickets and prizes and eat food at this fun new Gainesville arcade! The ELI will not provide rides to this event because it is on a bus route, so meet us there! Take bus 33 to Celebration Pointe or any bus to Butler Transfer station and walk from there. Bring between $20 to $30 dollars to play games and have lunch! Please be reminded that alcohol is not allowed at ELI activities.
You must sign up to attend this activity.
Call for Talent for the ELI Talent Show
It is time to prepare for our annual ELI Talent Show that will happen on the evening of Thursday March 24th! We need you to make our talent show a success! Please consider performing your talent or act at our very special event.
Talent can be many things including dancing, singing, reading poetry, sharing art, playing an instrument, performing a skit with your class or friends, an intercultural fashion show, storytelling or comedy, video creation, and much more!
We want as many students, staff, and guests to participate as possible! If you have an amazing talent, please share. If not, remember that you do not need to be perfect at something to participate and come up with a performance. Get together with your friends to make a fun and easy plan for your act!
To be in the Talent Show you must:
- Sign up – If there are multiple people in your performance, list all their names in the comments. They must also sign up too. Please sign up by the deadline of February 25th!
- Attend the Info Session – On Friday February 25th there is a short meeting in the Language Studio at 1pm to discuss the details of our event and what is expected of you.
- Attend rehearsals – There are rehearsals after classes on March 2nd and March 15th from 5pm to 6:30pm in the Language Studio. There will also be a dress rehearsal right before the Talent Show on March 24th in the University Auditorium.
- Attend and perform in the Talent Show on March 24th at 7pm in the University Auditorium!
Please sign up with your act by February 25th here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-elitalent
We are also looking for students to be our Master of Ceremonies and host our Talent Show! If you think you would do a great job introducing our acts and hosting our event, please contact Tate with your interest!
Conversation Partners
Want to meet with an English speaker once a week and make a new friend?! Sign up here! https://forms.gle/k7Z826F2LU9gekrU7.
Wait two weeks after signing up to be paired.
Email conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu if your partner does not respond a week after you contact them.
Remember, CPs are not tutors, they will not do your homework or teach you grammar. They are fluent English speakers who will help you speak by having one-on-one practice and being your friend!
Photo of the Week
Manners & Culture
Q: A friend gave me a Valentine’s card and candy. We are just friends. Isn’t Valentine’s Day for romantic partners?
A: Valentine’s Day is a great chance to celebrate friendship as well as love. If you read the greeting cards in the store, you will find many options celebrating friendship. Valentine’s Day also celebrates other types of love, not just romantic love, like the love between parent and child or siblings’ love. With this in mind, here are some ways you might see Americans celebrating friendship on Valentine’s Day:
- having a game night with friends
- getting together to cook or bake
- having a movie marathon
- going for a walk together
- going out to dinner together
- organizing a craft night for friends
- giving candy to friends and classmates
Grammar
Q: When speaking English, do we usually say on Feb 2, 2022, or in Feb 2, 2022? Is it right to say in February or on February?
A: The rule for prepositions of time for dates is the following:
Use in + month, year, century, or season.
- I was born in March, in the twentieth century, in spring
Use on + date, weekday, weekday morning, afternoon, evening.
- I was born on October 30.
- I was born on Wednesday morning.
Use at + noon, night, clock time, present.
I was born at 10 p.m.
I was not born at night.
Q: What is the difference between at and in for locations?
A: Generally, in is used when you are inside of a place whereas at is used when you’re somewhere near or around the place. In also emphasizes that you’re inside the building and at is more of the idea of the location.
I am in Matherly Hall. [Inside the building]
I am at Matherly Hall [Usually outside]
Birthdays!
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Notes from the Editor
- Share your special experiences of campus, Gainesville, Florida, and your country by sending me your stories for the Weekly.
- Do you have grammar questions? Do you have manners and culture questions? Share them with us!
- Send stories and questions to Maya (mshastri@ufl.edu). Use the subject heading, ‘ELI Weekly.’