The ELI Weekly
Student Writing: YaHsuan Wang, RW 20
My Life at ELI
I study English at ELI and it has amazing and wonderful program. I enjoy the courses here. I like to study reading / writing and grammar. The teachers are all very friendly, kind, and professional. The courses are also very helpful to me. I like listening / speaking because I can meet new classmates, and I talk with them about anything. You know what? I can say hello in Spanish and Arabic. It’s very interesting. I like to participate in activities organized by CIP because the LAs are so energetic and enthusiastic. They make me feel relaxed and comfortable. Now we have new students joining us — Fall B, so we can create more delightful memories!
CIP Photo of the Week: Homecoming Parade
CIP Weekday Activities
| Monday, October 27th – Coffee Talk – 6:30-9:00pm | |
 |
Socialize with LAs and ELI friends at Kava Gator! Play games, speak English, and drink a coffee or get dinner nearby! Take bus 1 or 5.
This semester, the location will change each week. Address: 185 E University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32601
|
| Tuesday, October 28th – Volleyball – 6:30-9:00pm | |
 |
Play volleyball and hang out at Lexington Crossing Apartments Phase 2 Volleyball Courts with us! No experience necessary! You can also watch, socialize or play other games if you don’t want to play volleyball. Take bus 35.
Address: 3700 SW 27th St, Gainesville, FL 32608
|
| Wednesday, October 29th – Soccer – 6:30 – 9:00pm | |
 |
Come play Soccer on campus at Flavet Field on campus! No experience necessary! You can also watch, socialize or play other games if you don’t want to play soccer.
Address: Woodlawn Dr, Gainesville, FL 32603
|
| Thursday, October 30th, Reitz Game Room | |
 |
Hang out with friends in the Reitz Game Room! You can go bowling, play pool, and play board games! Bring your Gator1 ID for cheaper rates.
Address: 655 Reitz Union Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611
|
| Friday, October 31st – Boo at the Zoo – 3:45 – 5:45pm | |
|
Before your Halloween night plans, experience Halloween culture by trick or treating at the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo! See lots of families in fun costumes and explore the zoo that is completely decorated and transformed into fantasy lands with some famous characters you might know. Be sure to collect candy from the staff and say “Trick or Treat!” This is your chance to be a kid no matter how old you are. Make sure to wear a costume! Entrance is free but you must donate one non-perishable food item (like a canned food) for their food drive to enter. There will be food trucks and performances in the area outside the zoo as well. It is VERY difficult to find each other at this event. Make sure to meet LAs at the BACK of the line to enter at 3:45 sharp. There is a long line, but don’t worry, it moves quickly. LAs will wait to enter the line until enough students arrive at the back of it. Once the ELI is in line, it is difficult to find one another. Feel free to call Paola if you need help. Take bus 43 directly to Santa Fe. It can take some time to get out to Santa Fe so plan accordingly and check your bus routes ahead of time. *This is a kid-friendly activity. If you have kids or relatives, feel free to bring them!
Address: 3000 NW 83 St Building Z, Gainesville, FL 32606 |
Weekend Event:
Saturday, November 1st – Micanopy Fall Festival – 11:30am to 2:30pm
Celebrate and welcome the Fall season with this famous annual event in Micanopy, FL! Explore the historic, charming town of Micanopy right outside Gainesville as they host hundreds of vendors selling seasonal crafts, foods, and more! Entrance is free but make sure to bring some spending money if you would like to purchase some items and explore the stores.
You must sign up to attend this event. Sign up here!
International Education Spirit Week at the ELI!
International Education Week 2025 is the week of November 17th and soon approaching! Get ready to celebrate international education at the ELI with a fun Spirit Week. Start planning and preparing now what you will be wearing to class on these special themed days:
Dress up for our themed days and wear your fun outfit to class and activities!
Monday, November 17th: Tourist Day – Dress like your idea of a tourist!
Tuesday, November 18th: Twin Day – Grab a friend and match for the day or dress up like your favorite teacher to be their surprise twin.
Wednesday, November 19th: Decades Day – Dress in the style of your favorite decade! The style can be from the US or from your home country.
Thursday, November 20th: Traditional/Country Clothing Day – Dress in the traditional dress from your country if you can. If you don’t have that clothing, wear something else to represent your country, like your flag’s colors or something else to show off your country pride. You can wear this at our annual Thanksgiving Potluck tonight!
Friday, November 21st: Character Day – Dress like your favorite celebrity, TV character, movie character, or book character.
Come to the main office before LS periods if you are dressed up for that day’s theme. We will take a picture of you and post all the pictures on our Instagram where our followers can vote for their favorite costume of the day. The winner for the day will get a small prize!
Other CIP Reminders
Conversation Partners
Want to meet with a fluent English speaker and make a new friend? Sign up for a CP! If you choose to sign up, you must meet with your partner for one hour a week. It can take up to two weeks to get a partner from when you sign up. Please sign up here!Please email Elijah at conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu for any issues, questions or concerns or visit her in the CIP Office during office hours.
| Don’t forget to get your CIP Passport hole punched from the activity leaders at the event (not after). We don’t hole punch passports after the event. Redeem your completed passport for a small gift, a photo for the ELI Instagram, and your name published in the ELI weekly! |  |
CIP Passports: Need a new CIP Passport? Stop by the CIP Office.
Find the Pineapple: Remember the CIP Pineapple is hidden in a new place every Monday in the CIP office. Stop by and find it for hole punches!
Notes from the Office
Time Change: The U.S. will observe the end of Daylight Saving Time on Sunday, November 3rd, 2025. Clocks will be set back one hour at 2:00 AM local time. Your phones and computers will automatically adjust but be sure to change your clocks.
Entering ELI Classrooms: Please use your best judgement on entering ELI classrooms to visit with friends in other classes. If you are entering a classroom during RW, please be sure that the class is on a break. Not every RW class takes their break at the same time and some RW classes don’t take a break at all. If you are unsure, you can politely ask the instructor in the classroom.
People Out: Christine will be out of the office November 3rd – November 5th. Please plan accordingly.
ELI Class Photo: On Thursday, October 30th, we will be taking a group photo of everyone at the ELI at the bronze Gator sculpture outside the Southwest entrance of Matherly Hall. The sculpture is known as Gator Ubiquity (see photo). Your Listening/Speaking teachers or LAs will walk you over there between the two L/S periods on Thursday. If it rains, we will take the photo on Tuesday, November 4th at the same time.
Commencement Info: Our ELI Commencement ceremony will take place at 10am on December 5th in the University Auditorium.
Birthdays
| Students | Staff | ||
| Mawaddah Hamza | October 30 | Chrstine Voight | October 30 |
 |
|||
Grammar
Q: What does it mean to say “ma’am”? Is it like saying “man”?
Actually, those words are very different! Ma’am is a polite way to address a woman, particularly if you do not know her name but still want to be respectful. It’s similar to saying sir for a man. The term ma’am is short for madam.
Man is used informally, usually as a greeting—like “Hey, man!” among friends.
Riddle:
Big, dark eyes, and a body white,
Floating by on Halloween night.
I enter a house without a key
Can you guess who I might be?
Student Voices
We 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 Moody (omoody@ufl.edu) or to your teacher. Please include your name and class on your submission. The deadline for submissions is Friday, October 31st.
Every semester, we have amazing student writers, so we take your writing and publish it in an online collection called Student Voices. In past semesters, students have written paragraphs, essays, creative stories, recipes, letters, obituaries, poetry, and more. You can see past editions of Student Voices (https://eli.ufl.edu/news-publications/, scroll to the bottom of the page) for inspiration.
Note from the Editor
I need students, LAs, instructors, staff, and administrators to help me write the Weekly!
- Write a paragraph about your experiences this semester. You could write about an ELI activity, a Gainesville event, a fabulous local restaurant, or tell us about a place or event in your country that we should visit.
- You could also ask me to write about a topic that you are curious about
- Send me grammar questions for me to put in the Weekly.
- Send me manners and culture questions for me to put in the Weekly.
- Send me jokes to put in the Weekly.