The ELI Weekly
Where in the World?
This semester, the ELI has 117 students from 25 countries. Ask your classmates where they are from!
CIP Weekday Activities
Volunteer Weekend
Help the local Gainesville community through one of these volunteering opportunities! There are 4 different activities on Saturday and Sunday, but please only sign up for one.
Sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/20F0C4BA9A823A02-volunteer4
Other CIP Reminders
Gator football tickets on sale this week
Buy tickets now for the CIP activity on 9/23! We are selling football tickets starting this week until they are sold out! Come to the CIP Office between 9am and 12:30pm. Bring your Gator1 ID and 20 dollars exact cash. Tickets are limited! The game will be on September 23rd and we will meet at 6:15pm to enter the stadium together.
Tickets and guest policy: During the FIRST WEEK of sales (this week), ELI students can only purchase 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.
CIP Passport
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!
Pineapples, pineapples, pineapples!
Stop by the CIP office every week to try and find the hidden mini pineapple! The first student of the week to find it gets their picture posted, but anyone can still find it after that. Find it four times to get all the hole punches for your CIP Passport!
Conversation Partners (CPs)
Sign up for a CP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScrco_-3vxQmpyStsHOW0DQcoPfkm5yJYDzOuWLmq3nIaj2wg/viewform
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.
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.
Hallways: Many UF faculty and staff have offices in classroom buildings, just like Matherly Hall and Norman. Please remember to speak softly in the buildings. Please do not block the hallways or staircases by sitting in them.
Photo of the Week
Birthdays!
No birthdays this week!
Culture
Q: In the USA, can I call my teacher “Teacher” like this: “Teacher Maya?”
A: We do not say “Teacher Maya” 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 Maya.”
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 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 Maya wants you to use a formal address, you might use any of these: Ms. Shastri, Mrs. Shastri, or Professor Shastri.
Grammar
Q: Do I use “much” or “many” with money?
A: While both words mean “a lot,” we use the word “much” with things that cannot be counted and “many” with plural count nouns. The word “money” is non-count, so we use “much.”
- I don’t have much money.
- How much money is in the bank account?
However, if we are talking about units of money (coins, bills) then we will use “many.”
- I have many one-dollar bills in my wallet.
- She asked me for many coins from my country for her world coin collection.
Notes from the editor
When you see or do cool things on campus, in Gainesville, and around Florida, share them with your ELI family by sending a paragraph and a photo to me to put in the Weekly.
Are you curious about the culture of Gainesville? Send a culture question for me to put in the Weekly.
Is grammar getting you down? Send a grammar question to me and see the answer in the Weekly!
Send stories and questions to Maya (mshastri@ufl.edu).