Nomen Global Today

Grammar Guide: Adverb Clauses of Cause and Effect

Are you triskaidekaphobic? If you are, then today is not your lucky day! Triskaidekaphobia is the fear of the number 13. Friday the 13th is considered one of the most unlucky days of the year, according to superstition. The year 2012 has three of them, 13 weeks apart, too! All cultures have different superstitions, but here some of the most popular superstitions in the United States:

Finding a penny or a pin is good luck.
Going out on Friday the 13th is bad luck.
Opening an umbrella inside is bad luck.
A black cat crossing your path is bad luck.
Breaking a mirror brings 7 years bad luck.
Hanging a horseshoe is good luck.
Walking under a ladder is bad luck.
Lighting three things from the same match is bad luck.

See if you can find all of these superstitions in the 1956 cartoon, Popeye the Sailor I Don't Scare.

Adverb Clauses of Cause and Effect
Unlike adverb clauses of time, adverb clauses of cause and effect answer the question why. Subordinating conjunctions that are used with adverb clauses of cause and effect are because and since.

It is possible to begin a sentence with the word because, but remember that this subordinating conjunction begins a dependent clause. It must be connected to an independent clause. Remember that if you begin a sentence with a dependent clause, place a comma after it to show that it is introductory material. If you begin your sentence with an independent clause, you do not need a comma before the dependent clause.

Because Olive was afraid of Friday the 13th, she did not want to leave the house.
Since Bluto liked Olive, he tried to ruin Popeye's date with her.
Popeye was upset because Bluto tricked Olive.
Olive went on a date with Popeye since it wasn't actually Friday the 13th.

To learn more about Nomen Global and our education system, visit our website or meet us on Facebook.

Student Spotlight: Carlo Ezra Martinez Ruiz

Carlo Ezra Martinez Ruiz is from Oaxaca, Mexico. Ezra knows how important it is to study English to enter a good university and to find a good job. He decided to start studying English at Nomen Global a few months ago, and he will continue to improve until he gets accepted to a university. Ezra appreciates his teachers the most at Nomen Global. He feels that they are dedicated to their work and that he can learn faster with their help.

Ezra has already accomplished much in his life. Of all his accomplishments, he says that serving a mission in Mexico is the greatest. He has goals to graduate from a university, to get married, to start his own business, and most importantly to have a great family in the future. We wish you the best of luck, Ezra!

In his free time, Ezra exercises, reads, or goes out with friends. He enjoys being active and hates staying at home! Ezra also loves to eat (but he doesn't want to be fat!). He loves enfrijoladas, which is a popular Mexican dish similar to enchiladas, but are made with a creamy bean sauce.

To meet Ezra and other active students like him, visit us at Nomen Global!

Can't Stop the Snow

Although we were planning to go hiking on Friday, we were hit by an unexpected snowstorm! We love hiking the Y because it's an easy hike with a great view! The Y is a trademark of Provo, Utah, and is the largest letter of its kind in the United States. The Y is even taller than the HOLLYWOOD letters! We met at Nomen Global as scheduled in the afternoon, and although the snow had melted, we decided to go bowling!

Bowling is one of our favorite activities because all students, no matter their skill level, can have a fun time. We choose to go to Fat Cats for bowling because it is close to Nomen Global and we get a great deal as a group.

If you were looking forward to hiking the Y, don't worry! We are rescheduling the hike for this Friday afternoon instead.

Since the snow can't seem to stay away, we'll post a few additional pictures from the skiing activity we had a few weeks ago. We were lucky to catch Sundance open for one of the last weeks of the season.

Upcoming Activities

Hike the Y

We rescheduled the hike for this Friday! We hope the snow decides to stay away long enough for us to enjoy the new spring weather.

If you are interested in learning more about Nomen Global and our activities, visit our website or 'like' us on Facebook.

Grammar Guide: Adverb Clauses of Time

Easter in the United States combines both religious and cultural traditions. Children especially enjoy wondering what the Easter Bunny will bring them in their Easter basket. They color and hunt for Easter eggs around their house and garden. Families will often attend a religious ceremony to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.

Adverb Clauses of Time
While adverb clauses generally answer the questions when, where, why, and how, adverb clauses of time give more details to answer the question when. An adverb clause of time must start with a subordinating conjunction, such as before, after, when, while, until, since, by the time, as soon as, and others.

If the adverb clause of time comes before the independent clause, place a comma after it to show that it is introductory material. If the adverb clause of time comes after the independent clause, no comma is needed.

Before Easter Sunday arrives, families in the United States decorate their homes with eggs, flowers, and baskets.
Their parents hide plastic eggs filled with candy around the house while the children color Easter eggs.
When the children wake up on Easter Sunday, they discover that the Easter Bunny left them treats in their baskets.
After the whole family attends a special Easter church celebration, they eat a nice meal together.

To learn more about what Nomen Global has to offer, visit our website or 'like' us on Facebook.

Teacher Spotlight: Phyllis McAffee

Phyllis McAffee teaches Grammar Level 2, Integrated Skills Level 3, Advanced Novels, Beginning Writing Workshop, Intermediate Speaking/Listening Workshop, and Idioms and Informal Speech. Phyllis had taught elementary school for over 30 years before she made a career change to TESOL. She has been working at Nomen Global over ten years.

Her years of experience give Phyllis an edge in the classroom. She always has creative ways to teach her students difficult concepts. It is common to see Phyllis with art and food projects in her classroom to facilitate discussion and creativity. One of the most popular courses in the school, Idioms and Informal Speech, is taught with Phyllis's expertise.

In her free time, Phyllis enjoys dancing with her husband. She is very active in the community and goes dancing about four times each week! Their favorite dancing is square dancing, which is a traditional American folk dance. The dance requires four couples, arranged in a square. Phyllis loves making friends this way.

Meet Phyllis and other active teachers like her at Nomen Global. Visit our Facebook page to see our upcoming activities.

United Studio of Self Defense

For our Listening/Speaking Workshop, we had a fun and exciting opportunity to learn self defense from a high-ranking black belt in martial arts! When we arrived to the studio, located just a few blocks from Nomen Global, we started with a quick warm up of arm, leg, and abdomen exercises. We increased our heart rate to prepare us for basic self defense.

After our warm up, we learned the basic stances for punches and kicks. It was a challenge for many of us to listen to our sensei's (teacher's) specific instructions!

After we learned the basics, our instructor taught us real-world moves to defend ourselves in a confrontation. We practiced 3 different moves that use technique rather than strength to protect ourselves if someone grabbed us. Self defense is an important skill for everyone, not just women. We learned how to concentrate, to stay safe, and to feel more confident.

We really enjoyed how our instructor walked around to make sure everyone was practicing the right moves. He answered our questions about certain situations and helped us feel safer as we are living in a different country. Luckily Provo, Utah, is one of the safest cities in the United States, but we feel better know how to defend ourselves!

Learn more about Nomen Global and our activities by visiting our website or by liking us on Facebook.

April Fool's Fun

April 1st is coming up in a few days! In the United States, as well as around the world, this day is set aside for fun and tricks. Many people plan for weeks how they will trick their family, friends, roommates, and coworkers for fun on this day. Are you prepared for April Fool's Day?

Read this article about some of the tricks that Utah State University students pulled.

Click here for some fun April Fool's ideas!

Student Spotlight: Cristiano Gonzalez

Cristiano Gonzalez is from Chile. He is currently enrolled in the GMAT Preparation course at Nomen Global. He has been studying here for several weeks and plans to stay until he can get a score of 700 or better on the GMAT. 'GMAT' stands for the Graduate Management Admissions Test. It assesses math and English language skills that are required for admission into a graduate business program. Cristiano hopes to improve his English enough to be admitted into an MBA program.

Cristiano just completed a double major in finance and business management with a double minor in economics and organizational behavior at BYU-Hawaii in just four years! He hopes to earn an MBA or master's degree in finance.

Besides GMAT Preparation, Cristiano enjoys the diversity in culture and the fun environment at Nomen Global. Cristiano is quick to get to know other students in the school. He feels that it is important to always have an open mind and be non-judgmental. These skills allow him to understand and appreciate other cultures. In the future, Cristiano wants to visit every country in the world and learn many different languages.

Cristiano's other hobbies include playing guitar, surfing, long boarding, snowboarding, biking, and going out with friends. He loves Thai, Brazilian, Italian, and Japanese food.While Cristiano has a passion for rock, fast cars, parties, and motorcycles, he also has a passion for art, literature, finance, and politics.

Get to know Cristiano and other well-rounded students like him at Nomen Global! 'Like' us on Facebook for more information about our school and our students.

Spring Skiing

Beautiful 70-degree weather, fresh snow, new skis, good friends ... what more could you ask for on a new spring day? We thought we were finished with winter when we went tubing a couple of weeks ago, but we had to catch one last day of snow.

We drove a few minutes up Provo Canyon to visit Sundance Ski Resort. We went night skiing at Sundance last year, and we decided to try something new this year: spring skiing. Spring skiing is popular at many of the Utah ski resorts because even though snow still sits on the mountains, the weather is not too cold. Nomen Global students enjoyed a warm and relaxing day in the mountains. Take a look at some of the pictures we took.

To learn more about the activities we offer, 'like' us on Facebook or visit our website.

Most Optimistic City

How much do you enjoy where you live? Do you feel like your area is improving as a place to live? People who live in Provo-Orem, Utah, are not only satisfied living in this area, but they are also optimistic about the future, a Gallup poll says. Not all metropolitan areas who had high optimism ratings also had high satisfaction ratings, but Provo-Orem is one of the few who has both.

Not only do Provo-Orem residents score in the top 10 for being optimistic about the place that they live, they are also in the top 10 towns with high well-being.

Provo has also been rated as one of the top 10 safest cities in the United States and one of the top 10 places to raise a family.

In addition to the overall morale of the city, Provo also boasts hundreds of cultural and historical sites, like the Covey Center for the Arts and the Provo City Library at Academy Square.

Provo is a popular destination for numerous outdoor recreational activities, available in both the summer and winter. Provo is also, however, a booming area for new businesses. Provo also enjoys a moderately warm climate in the summer and a refreshing, cool climate in the winter.

Come find out for yourself how much you will love Provo by studying English with us at Nomen Global. 'Like' us on Facebook to see more about the activities we participate in around the city.

Student Spotlight: Rose Carvalheiro

Rose Carvalheiro is originally from Brazil, but she has been living in Utah for several years. Rose began studying English at Nomen Global about 7 months ago and will continue to study until June. Because Rose lives in the United States permanently, she feels strongly that speaking and writing well in English is very important.

At Nomen Global, Rose especially loves the teachers. She says that they are always patient and helpful. After Rose finishes studying English, she will expand her business. She makes 100% natural and organic soap. In July, she will also start to work as a volunteer to protect children against abuse.

Although Rose has accomplished a lot with her business, her greatest success is being an excellent wife, mother, and grandmother. Her family is one of the most important things to her, as well as being around positive people. Rose has a goal to never stop learning. She tries to experience something new all the time.

In her free time, Rose enjoys taking Zumba classes, creating art, reading books, and painting. She also loves seafood, including shrimp and lobster.

Meet Rose and other goal-oriented people like her at Nomen Global. 'Like' us on Facebook for more information about our school.

Hunting for Gold

St. Patrick's Day is celebrated on the 17th of March each year. Popular traditions include images of rainbows and gold, leprechauns and 4-leaf clovers, and green and good luck. To celebrate this Irish holiday and to mimic searching for gold, Nomen Global students went on a scavenger hunt around town. We first split into groups of four. With our groups, we had to gather clues at different shops on Center Street in Provo. Each clue led us to a different shop. When we collected all the clues, we had to run to the final destination where the first team would find this pot of gold. Take a look at our pictures of our groups from this activity.

To learn more about Nomen Global, visit our website. To see more of the activities we offer, 'like' us on Facebook.

Grammar Guide: More Prepositions of Time

St. Patrick's Day, an Irish holiday, has been celebrated for over 1,000 years. St. Patrick died on March 17 in the fifth century. Each year on this anniversary, the Irish celebrate this day with a feast and other religious traditions. Today, countries all over the world recognize St. Patrick's Day with symbols of leprechauns, pots of gold, green colors, and four-leaf clovers.

More Prepositions of Time

Continuing with our series on prepositions, we will discuss other prepositions of time (see at, on, in). These prepositions are used commonly with perfect tenses to show how long something has happened/has been happening.

For

We use for with a length of time to answer the question how long.

St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated for over 1,000 years.
The uilleann pipes and the tin whistle have been used in Irish music for hundreds of years.
St. Patrick was held in prison for six years before he escaped.

Since

We use since with a specific point in time to answer the question how long.

St. Patrick's Day has been celebrated since the 9th or 10th century.
The shamrock has been an Irish symbol since the 17th century.
New York City has held parades every year since March 17, 1762.

To learn more about Nomen Global and what we teach, visit our website or our Facebook page.

Staff Spotlight: Trina Perry

Trina Perry is from Spanish Fork, Utah. She is our dedicated Office Manager who greets the students as they come through the door. Trina is a hard worker. She worked at the State Hospital for 23 years before she started working at Nomen Global 5 months ago. She graduated with a degree in nursing and early childhood development.

At Nomen Global, Trina loves meeting new students from different countries and learning about their cultures. Trina actually thrives under pressure and enjoys staying organized. In the future, Trina hopes to learn Spanish just as the students learn English.

Trina loves camping, riding horses, and riding 4-wheelers. She has 6 children (3 who are adopted) that love to play jokes on her! She has fun with her children as they try to figure out the best jokes for each other.

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-groomed body, but rather to skid in sideways, throughly used up, totally worn out, with a drink in one hand & winning lottery tickets in the other, loudly proclaiming 'Wow, what a ride!'" Her favorite quote is originally from Hunter Thompson, but she has made her own changes over time.

Meet Trina at other great staff members at Nomen Global. 'Like' us on Facebook to learn more about the school.

Soldier Hollow

Spring has finally arrived, and Nomen Global students are glad that they had one last chance to enjoy the snow. Last Friday, we drove to Midway, Utah, to Soldier Hollow Cross-Country Ski Resort. Soldier Hollow is famous for its back-country skiing and for the longest tubing lanes in Utah. We spent the afternoon sliding down a snow-covered hill on inflatable tubes. Take a look at the pictures we took from the activity.