The Weekly Newsletter of
the English Language Institute
Volume 151, Issue 7
July 10, 2023
The ELI Weekly
Flip Factory Trampoline Park
Indoor fun on a hot Saturday afternoon!
Saturday July 15th – Flip Factory Trampoline Park – 3:00pm to 6:00pm
Come jump around and do all kinds of fun activities at this entertainment center! Jump on trampolines, play laser tag, and do all kinds of other fun obstacle courses and games. A two-hour unlimited pass is 25 dollars. You must sign the company’s ewaiver before attending. See information here: https://flipfactoryzone.com/e-waviers/
Meet at Flip Factory. Take bus 12 or car pool with friends or rideshare!
Address: 7400 W Newberry Rd, Gainesville, FL 32605
You must sign up to attend this activity: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-flip
CIP Activities
Monday July 10th – Coffee Talk – 6:30 – 9:00pm
Socialize with LAs and ELI friends at the Starbucks on Archer Road! Play games, speak English, and drink a coffee or get dinner at the restaurants nearby! Take bus 1, 12, or 34.
Address: 3524 SW Archer Rd #160, Gainesville, FL 32608
Tuesday July 11th – Volleyball – 6:30 – 9:00pm
Come play volleyball and hang out at Lexington Crossing Apartments Phase 2! No experience necessary! Take bus 34 or 35.
Address: 3900 SW 27th St, Gainesville, FL 32608
Wednesday July 12th – Soccer – 5:30 – 8:00pm
Come play Soccer on campus at Maguire Field on campus! No experience necessary!
Address: Bledsoe Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611
Thursday July 13th – Gator Salsa & Downtown Gainesville- 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Learn to dance salsa with this fun and free dance class in the streets of beautiful downtown Gainesville. Choose to dance or explore downtown with friends and grab some food from across the street! Meet in front of the Bull in downtown. Take bus 1, 5, or 46.
Address: 18 SW 1st Ave, Gainesville, FL 32601
Friday July 14th – Reitz Game Room – 6:30pm – 9:00pm
Hang out with ELI friends and play pool or go bowling! Pool and bowling are at a discounted cost with your Gator ID but board games and socializing are free!
Address: 655 Reitz Union Drive, Gainesville, FL 32611
Selling Bus Passes this Week for St. Augustine Beach & Town Bus Trip!
Our beach trip this semester is on July 22nd to the beautiful and historic beach and town of St. Augustine! Bus passes are for sale from Tate in the CIP office for 25 dollars exact cash between 9am and 12:30pm. Make sure to have your UFID. Space is limited so buy your pass before seats sell out!
Bus passes and guest policy: During the FIRST WEEK of sales (this week), ELI students can only purchase bus tickets for themselves and their immediate family members (spouse, children, parents, siblings). If students want to buy tickets for additional guests (friends, roommates, etc.) they can do so during the SECOND WEEK of sales (next week) if tickets are still available. Former students and other friends of the ELI can also buy tickets the second week of sales, but not the first week.
Other CIP Reminders
Don’t forget to get your CIP Passport hole punched from the activity leaders AT the event (not after). We will no longer hole punch passports after the event. Redeem your completed passport for a small gift and photo for the ELI Instagram! Remember the CIP Pineapple is hidden in a new place every Monday in the CIP office. Stop by and find it for hole punches!
Conversation Partners
Sign up for a CP here: https://forms.gle/HeU3v2P9xUTqyW15A
Remember, if you sign up, you must meet your partner at least once a week and respond to their messages. Email conversationpartners@eli.ufl.edu if you have any questions or problems or stop by the CIP office to see Will during his office hours.
CIP Photo of the week from the Reitz Union Game Room!
Student Voices Reminder
At the ELI, we love to read your writing! Do you want to share your writing with the ELI? The ELI Student Voices is a great opportunity!
Every semester, the ELI publishes a collection of student writing. You can send a piece of your writing to be published for everyone to read. You can send paragraphs, essays, stories, recipes, poetry, and even photos. Also, the best two pieces of writing will be recognized at the ELI Commencement ceremony at the end of the semester. For inspiration, you can find previous editions of The ELI Student Voices on the ELI website.
To submit your writing, please email Thomas Dolce at tomdolce@ufl.edu. Please include your name and class. The last day to submit a piece of writing is July 21st. We can’t wait to read your writing!
Santa Fe College Workshop
Representatives from Santa Fe College will speak to ELI students on Thursday, July 13th, at 3:15pm in Matherly Hall, room 107. This is great opportunity to learn about SF and their admissions process. If you are thinking about attending Santa Fe College, you shouldn’t miss this chance to get information and meet their International Student Services team.
CF College Workshop
A representative from the College of Central Florida will present information on Tuesday, July 18th at 3:15pm in Matherly Hall, room 107. The College of Central Florida (CF) is located in Ocala, Florida, which is 60 kilometers south of Gainesville. Like Santa Fe College, CF is a community college. It has over 150 academic pathways, including two-year occupational degrees, 2+2 university transfer pathway program, and four-year bachelor’s degrees. CF is nationally recognized, has on-campus housing, and does not require a TOEFL or IELTS score for admission. This is a great opportunity to learn about CF and their admissions process.
RTS Bus Routes
Some bus routes on UF campus have changed for Summer B. Remember to check your bus routes and schedules when making plans! You can use the RTS Trip Planner on https://go-rts.com/ or the RideRTS app to make sure you know where your bus is.
Safety on University Avenue
University Avenue is also Florida State Road 26. This means it is a busy highway that runs east-to-west across the state. Even though it is tempting to treat it like a campus road, it is not! Please be very careful. You should only cross at crosswalks and with the walk signal. You also should not be dropped off or picked up on University Ave by rideshares or your friends. Instead, you can use the parking lot behind Library West or the traffic circle in front of Gerson Hall to be picked up or dropped off. Even if you see other people jaywalking or stopping their cars on the road, you should not!
ELI Class Photo
We’re reviving an ELI tradition! On Friday, July 14th, the ELI will take a class photo at the end of grammar classes (11:50am). We will try to take a picture of everyone at the ELI to share with all of our students, faculty, and staff. We will gather at the southwest entrance of Matherly Hall to take the picture.
Notes from the Office
I-20s Expiring: Please be sure to contact Daryl as soon as possible if your I-20 expiration date is coming up before the Fall semester. Also, if you are in the US now and plan to travel outside of the US during the break between semesters, please be sure to contact Daryl to get your I-20 signed.
People Out: Daryl will be out of the office on Monday, 7/17.
Birthdays
It’s unusual, but there are no ELI birthdays this week.
Manners and Culture
Q: Why do the American people wear flip-flops a lot?
A: This one’s a classic “Gainesville” question. People all over the US wear a wide variety of shoes. Because we are in Florida and it’s very hot, people here tend to wear the most comfortable shoes for the temperature and that happens to be flip-flops and sandals.
Grammar
Q: What’s a phrasal verb?
A: A phrasal verb is a verb that adds another word (or words), usually a preposition, that changes the meaning of the action completely. For example, “I dropped him” is different from, “I dropped him off.” In the first example, the meaning is very specific…it means that I was carrying him, physically, and I couldn’t or wouldn’t hold on to him, and I dropped him. It can also mean that we were in a romantic relationship, and I ended it. In the second case, it means that I was transporting him, most likely in my car, and I drove him to his house and let him out of the car there.
The prepositions don’t always make sense if you try to isolate them. Each time you change the preposition, you change the meaning entirely—basically, creating a new dictionary word. The only way to master phrasal verbs is to take notice of how they are used and practice, practice, practice, just like you would with any other new vocabulary.
Here are some useful phrasal verbs:
- I need to make up the exam that I missed last week.
- Can I hand in my essay late?
- Put away your cell phones, please!
- I had to do my homework over because I had too many mistakes.
Quote of the Week
I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday. And lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
For a PDF Copy of the Weekly, go here: SS2307