The ELI Weekly
Out and About: Finding Inspiration
by Seokhyeon Sim, RW42
Do you believe the easiest way to change people is through encouragement? I believe this after what happened recently. A few days ago, my friend and I were talking in the classroom. We were speaking English although we are both Korean. Then suddenly, teacher Todd heard our conversation and said, “You guys are role models for our class! Two Koreans speaking English. Awesome!” What teacher Todd said really inspired me because I realized that it really was an awesome experience. Now, I am enjoying getting into this! I am always trying to speak everything in English, not only at school, but also at home! That is why I am sure that encouragement is a power that is enough to change people.
CIP Weekday Activities
Sign up for all activities here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-student26
Weekend Activity
There is no scheduled ELI activity this weekend since many classes will be holding Midterm Exams next week. Use the weekend to study. Good luck on your exams!
Here are some tips to help you do well on the exams and to improve your English overall.
- Do the activities in the book that your instructor did and didn’t assign.
- Find activities online. For example, if you Google “preposition practice”, you’ll get lots of results.
- Practice whatever you’re studying, but do it out loud. You can practice using pronouns in sentences, reading the newspaper and finding them there, listening for them when people talk, and writing texts to friends using them.
- Get plenty of sleep and eat well!
Conversation Partners (CPs)
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!
Talent Show: Call for Talent
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
Notes from the Office
Illness and attendance: If you are sick, you should stay home from class, even if the illness is not Covid. Staying home helps you recover and keeps classmates healthy. The reason why you are allowed 20% absences in the ELI is for illness and unexpected emergencies. Please save your absences for these reasons.
Lounge area: We wish we had an ELI student lounge area, but since this isn’t possible, here are some suggestions for places close to Matherly where you can hang out and chat between classes:
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Heavener Hall Common Area Library West Lobby–You don’t need coffee to hang out in the lounge to the left of the front doors.
- Heavener Hall, right next to Matherly, has a common area for students.
- Smathers Library (Library East)–Parts of this building are beautiful. Wander in and check out some of the fun spaces.
- Empty classrooms in Matherly–Students are welcome to sit in empty classrooms while waiting for their next class. Just be aware that other classes are meeting and that you need to be respectful of them.
- Matherly courtyard and other courtyards– Meet outside when the weather is nice!
Student Voices: We love to see our students’ writing. Every semester, we take your writing and publish it in Student Voices. Past submissions have included paragraphs, essays, creative stories, recipes, letters, obituaries, poetry, creative stories, class projects, and other interesting works on a variety of topics. I encourage you to submit anything of your work that you wish to see published. It can be from any class or something you have written on your own but ask your teachers for help editing! You can email it to Olga (omoody@ufl.edu) or to your teacher. Please include your name and class on your submission. The deadline for submissions is Friday, April 8th.
Spring Break: The week of March 7-11 is Spring Break! You will have a week with no classes. Now is the time to plan special activities or trips for that week.
Grammar
Q: What are the correct uses for a semicolon?
A: Semicolons are used to connect two related independent clauses in the same place where a period could go. You should not use it to separate an independent and dependent clause. Here are some examples:
- I usually wear a coat in the winter; I’ve only worn a coat once this year.
- I thought it would be very cold in January; however, it wasn’t cold.
- Incorrect: If the weather gets cold; I will have to wear a coat.
Birthdays!
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Staff:
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Notes from the Editor
I would love to see some stories about interesting places in your country! Tell us about a place that we must see if we visit your country. This might be a museum, historical place, religious place, park etc. Send stories and a photo of the place to Maya (mshastri@ufl.edu) and use the subject line ‘ELI Weekly’.