The ELI Weekly
Volume 161, Issue 2 – September 8, 2026
Out and About: Gator Football
Last Saturday, you may have noticed the UF campus absolutely packed with Gator fans! What were all these people doing outside all day? They were taking part in tailgating, an American tradition that brings football fans together to share food, drinks, and school spirit on the day of a football game. Tailgating is part of the college football experience and a hugely popular social activity here at UF.
The term “tailgating” comes from the practice of lowering the back of a truck (called the tailgate) or station wagon and using the tailgate as a table for food and beverages. Tailgating has been an American pastime for over a century. Through time, it has evolved into the elaborate tailgating tradition we know today involving tents, grills, corn hole, music, TVs, and lots and lots of school spirit!
CIP Weekend Activity
Saturday September 12th – Gator Football Game – 5:00-9:00pm
Watch the Gators play American football against the Campbell Fighting Camels from North Carolina! Get in the school spirit and wear orange and blue, learn Gator chants, and support the Gators while learning all about American football.
You must have a ticket from Christine to attend and sit with the ELI. Tickets are almost sold out! If you want to go, you can talk to Christine in MAT 225 from 11:45 to 12:45. If you don’t get one. of the ELI tickets, you can still buy one on your own.
On September 12th, we will all gather at 5:00 pm in the Reitz Union outside of the Subway. Then, we will walk over to Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to watch the start of the game. Be on time (or early)!
**Do NOT bring any bags or backpacks** Keep your wallet, keys, phone, etc. in your pockets. Bring some extra spending money if you would like to buy food at the stadium.
Upcoming Weekend Event
Saturday, September 19th – St. Augustine Beach and Town – 8:15am to 9:15pm
Spend a day exploring beautiful St. Augustine and having fun at the beach!
Spaces for transportation are limited, so make sure to buy your ticket early! Tickets for transportation are $25 exact cash on sale now from Christine in the ELI office Monday through Friday during your lunch hour.
If you find a ride with someone else, please offer to pay them $25 because that is around how much it will cost for mileage and parking per person. If you are a self-driver or plan on riding with someone else, please email or text Mathis so he knows to expect you on the trip!
CIP Weekday Activities
| Tuesday, September 8th – 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. The ELI is usually in the volleyball court in the back of the complex next to the basketball court. Make sure to go to phase 2 of the complex! Take bus 35. Address: 3700 SW 27th St, Gainesville, FL 32608 |
| Thursday, September 10th – Museum Nights – 6:30-9:30pm | Come enjoy UF’s Harn Museum of Art for their special Museum Night activity, “Art After Dark: Noche de Museo”! Explore the museum and partake in all the fun activities they have like dancing, arts and crafts, and performances! Meet in the lobby area of the Harn Museum. We suggest you arrive on time because it may be difficult to find ELI friends once we start exploring. Take bus 20. Address: 3259 Hull Rd, Gainesville, FL 32608 |
Other CIP Activities
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!
Returning students, you will not automatically be paired again if you had a CP last semester. Please make sure to sign up again for the Fall semester if you did not request a Fall partner in your end of term evaluation from last semester.
Please email Aurora at conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu for any issues, questions or concerns or visit her in the CIP Office during office hours.
CIP Passport
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!
Need a new CIP Passport? Stop by the CIP Office!
Important Update! The CIP Pineapple will be hidden in the ELI Main Office this semester! It will be in a new place every Tuesday morning. Stop by and find it for hole punches!
Notes from the Office
Class Attendance: Your attendance is important. Your teachers are taking note of both your absences and your tardies in every class every day. Please remember that this also includes time spent in the hallway instead of the classroom.
Lost and Found: Have you lost your car keys, student ID card, driver’s license, wallet, or some other important item? Many times, when people find an item, they bring it to the office for safe keeping. When you lose something, please come by the ELI Main Office (MAT223) and see if it is in the lost and found.
Christine’s Fall Office Hours: This semester the ELI Main Office is open from 8am – 4:30pm, Monday through Thursday, and 8am – 3:00pm on Fridays.
Accommodations for Class: Do you have special learning needs due to a personal medical condition? If you do, you might be able to get accommodations (specific changes or tools to remove learning difficulties). If you have questions or want more information, talk to Christine or email her at christinevoigt@ufl.edu as soon as possible. Christine will help you talk to the UF Disabilities Resource Center about accommodations for your classes.
Some examples of accommodations include the following:
- extra time on exams due to a reading disability
- providing PowerPoint Presentations to students who need more reading time
- permission to leave the classroom to take medication
- eating or drinking in class for a specific medical condition
- an audio version of a textbook for students who have limited vision
We want this to be a great learning experience for all our students!
Safety Reminders
Here are a few safety reminders for staying safe on campus!
Gatorsafe: You should download the Gatorsafe App on your phone so you can get UF alerts. Gatorsafe has useful safety information about weather, a quick link to UFPD, and other safety services.
ELI Emergency Cell Phone and 911: The ELI has a special phone number that you can use if you have a medical or legal emergency outside of normal office hours. The ELI emergency phone number is 352-672-0144 that is available from 4:30pm-8:00am when the ELI office is closed. You should store this number in your phone in case you have an emergency. An example of an emergency is if an ELI student needs to go to the hospital or gets arrested. Please do not use the emergency number for anything that can wait to be answered by email or when the office is open. If you need the police, fire department, or an ambulance for an extreme emergency, call 911 before you call the ELI emergency number.
Personal belongings: Do not leave backpacks, computers, phones or other personal belongings in the classrooms or hallways when you are not there. Also, if you use a mobility device like a bike, electric scooter, or skateboard, you should lock it outside at one of the racks. Take the time to register your property with UFPD, especially your mobility devices.
Birthdays!
Students
Sept 15: Alrashdi Fatema
Faculty/Staff
None this week!
Manners & Culture
Q: In the USA, should I call my teacher “Teacher” or “Professor”?
A: We do not say “Teacher” in the United States. We have very specific forms of address for formal and informal situations.
Informal address: This is easy! You only use the person’s first name. If your teacher wants you to be informal, she will tell you, “Call me Christine.”
Formal address: For a more respectful way to address people, we use a title plus the last name.
- Men: Mister (Mr.) Smith
- Women: Miss Smith for a young girl, Missus (Mrs.) Smith for a married woman, and Miz (Ms.) Smith for a woman when you don’t know if she is married or not.
- At the university, you will also hear two titles “Doctor” and “Professor”. Doctor is only for people who have earned their PhD or medical degree. Professor can be used for any teaching staff with a master’s or PhD. Remember that you would still use the last or family name with these, so if Christine wants you to use a formal address, you could say Dr. Voigt or Professor Voigt.
Grammar
Q: Why does English use so many confusing prepositions? For example, ‘on a street’ but ‘in a city’ or ‘in a car’ but ‘on a bus’ or ‘in the morning’ but ‘at night.’ Isn’t it hard for people to learn?
Yes! It is indeed hard for people to learn all the prepositions in English. It can take a long time to get them all right. Fortunately, people will usually understand you even if your prepositions are less than perfect!
Why English has so many prepositions is a little more complicated to answer. It has to do with the way English changed over time. Prepositions evolved to help show relationships between things in a concise way. So, yes, all these prepositions are confusing, but they allow us to add a lot of meaning using these short little words.
By the way, you can say ‘in the night’ but it means something a little different from ‘at night’:
- “Owls hunt at night.” → This is a general time reference
- “I woke up suddenly when I heard a loud crash in the night.” → This happened at a particular point within the night.
Notes from the Editor
I need all of you, 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. 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.
Send your paragraphs and/or questions to Christine Voigt (christinevoigt@ufl.edu) Use the subject heading: ELI Weekly.