Rooftop Concert Series

Summer in Provo is full of fun activities. One of our favorite free activities is the summer Rooftop Concert Series hosted by Provo City. The concert is held one time each month on the roof of the parking garage in the Provo City Center. Each month features a different aspiring artist, food stands, and lots of local friends! Take a look at some of the pictures we took at last week's concert.

Upcoming Activities

Hike Stewart Falls

One of the most popular waterfalls in the Wasatch mountains is Stewart Falls. The hike to the falls is relatively simple, but is breathtakingly beautiful in the early summer months. The lush, green scenery meets a 200-foot, two-tiered waterfall after an hour-long hike. 

To learn more about Nomen Global, visit our website. To see more about our activities, visit our Facebook page.

Grammar Guide: Adjective Clauses

Mother's Day is always the second Sunday in the month of May in the United States. Mother's Day is unique because it doesn't celebrate a particular event in history or one person like other holidays do; it celebrates mothers from all different backgrounds. Popular traditions include ways to show Mom that you love her: flowers or gifts, breakfast in bed, cards, and nice restaurant dinners. Many people in the United States consider Mother's Day one of the biggest holidays after Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Valentine's Day.

Adjective Clauses
Similar to how adverb clauses function as adverbs, adjective clauses function as adjectives. An adjective modifies, or describes, a noun or pronoun. Adjectives answer the questions which one, what kind, and how many. These clauses do not begin with subordinating conjunctions as adverb clauses do, but they begin with relative pronouns. Relative pronouns are who, whom, whose, that, which, what, when, where, and why.

• My mother, who lives in Texas, is a caring and kind woman.
• My father, whom my mother loves, is buying her a new car for Mother's Day.
• My mother has wanted a new car that has automatic transmission for many years.
• I remember the time when she gave up a new car so that we could go on vacation together.
• Our family went to a place where we could swim and play together.
• My mother, whose food is always delicious, made us wonderful lunches and dinners that weekend.

Notice that in these examples, sometimes commas are present. We use commas with adjective clauses if the information is not necessary. Since I have only one mother, I do not need extra information to identify her. The car that she wants, however, needs the extra information to distinguish it from other cars. In these cases, do not use commas.

To learn more about Nomen Global and what we teach, visit our website or 'like' us on Facebook.

Student Spotlight: Guillermo Olguin

Guillermo Olguin is from Mexico. He is one of our newest students in Level 1. Although Guillermo knew almost no English when he started at Nomen Global one month ago, he is already making a lot of friends and improving his English in and out of class. Guillermo will study here for another 8 months before he returns to Mexico. After Guillermo learns English, he hopes to finish his bachelor's degree and get a better job in Mexico.

While he has been here, Guillermo has really enjoyed learning about the other students and their cultures. Nomen Global is lucky to have around 30 different countries represented by all of its students! In addition to learning about other cultures, Guillermo loves to play soccer and to travel. He also loves Mexican food (of course)!

The most important thing to Guillermo is his family. He also hopes to have great friends all his life and play on a soccer team in the future. Guillermo is a great person and makes all of his classes really fun!

Meet Guillermo and other fun students like him at Nomen Global!

Exciting Life Events

What are some of your most memorable life events? For Nomen Global students, the answers were different! For our Monday Activity, we wrote, performed, and filmed depictions of our most memorable life events: a wedding, a birth, the first day of school, and a funeral. Click on the videos to see our students in action!

Wedding

Birth

First Day of School

Funeral

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

Grammar Guide: Adverb Clauses of Condition

"May the force be with you." This popular phrase comes from the world-famous Star Wars movies. However, to celebrate Star Wars Day on May 4, fans have tweaked the phrase to "May the fourth be with you." Star Wars was created by George Lucas in the late 1970s. The saga, consisting of 6 films, began with the fourth episode. Since then, Star Wars has hooked a loyal fan base and a legacy in science fiction.

Adverb Clauses of Condition
These adverb clauses show that the ideas expressed in the result clause (or independent clause) are possible in certain circumstances. We use the subordinating conjunctions if, even if, only if, unless, whether or not, in case to express these conditions.

• We are going to watch Star Wars tonight whether or not you have already seen it.
• If Luke Skywalker did not have the Force, he would not be able to use Jedi mind tricks.
• Unless Han Solo tells Princess Leia that he loves her, she will not wait for him after he is cryogenically frozen.

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

Student Spotlight: Valeria Sepulveda

Valeria Sepulveda may be the next big rock star from Chile. She loves to play the drums with her band. If you are lucky, you may even get to see her perform at local concerts in the area! In addition to being extremely talented in music, Valeria is also talented in her English skills.

Val has been studying at Nomen Global for almost seven months. She will continue to study until she has a chance to pass the TOEFL. She's currently enrolled in TOEFL Preparation and excels in her studies. Although she is already proficient in many ways, Val is interested in improving her English because she understands that her opportunities will be better in the future (and because she loves the language)! She enjoys all aspects of Nomen Global: the teachers, the students, her classmates, the classes, and the activities. After Val finishes with Nomen Global, she hopes to transfer to another school to continue to learn and improve in her music studies.

Among Val's greatest accomplishments are graduating from college in Chile, winning a Battle of the Bands on TV in Chile, and going on tour with her band. In the future, Val would love to feel more fulfilled as a drummer, have a family, and continue to be happy. Besides drums and music, Val also loves sports, all kinds of food, and her family and friends.

Meet Valeria and other out-going students like her at Nomen Global!

International Food

What is your favorite type of international food? Well, if you don't know, you need to meet some of the students at Nomen Global, who made their favorite dishes from their countries last week. 

For our Monday Activity, we started the day by learning to appreciate different countries and cultures. We each brought a dish from our home country: Mexico, Brazil, Japan, Taiwan, Chile, and many more. We introduced the dish we brought, as well as where it came from.

To learn more about the activities at Nomen Global, visit our website or 'like' us on Facebook.

Grammar Guide: Adverb Clauses of Direct Contrast

Summer at Nomen Global is always an adventure. Many students study short-term rather than a full semester. We attend many holiday festivities around the city together, such as Freedom Days, and travel to a high-adventure activity, such as white-water rafting. Although there are fewer students in the summer, we have a lot of fun!

Adverb Clauses of Direct Contrast
These adverb clauses indicate that the two expressed ideas are in direct contrast. Different from adverb clauses of unexpected result, these clauses simply show opposite ideas. We use the subordinating conjunction while to show this contrast.

• While many summer students study short-term, other students study for longer than one semester.
• While we attend many activities in the city, we also spend time in nature.
• While it is true that many students love the summer in Provo, other students miss the snow.

In these sentences, we notice that the two expressed ideas are in direct contract to each other. 

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

Teacher Spotlight: Crystal Jewkes

Crystal Jewkes is one of the newest additions to the Nomen Global faculty, but we are thrilled to have her work with us and the students. She brings an advanced understanding of higher education to our GMAT/GRE Preparation students to help them prepare for the future.

Crystal grew up in Logan, Utah, which is one of the larger cities in Northern Utah. She has a bachelor's degree from Utah State University and a teaching degree and a Master's of Education from Southern Utah University. She has many years of experience teaching secondary education in Iron County, Utah, and she is currently a member of the Brigham Young University faculty.

Although Crystal started teaching at Nomen Global just two months ago, she already feels completely at home with the students and other faculty members. Nomen Global also recognizes her great strengths in teaching and creating a bountiful learning environment.

Crystal also loves her family and is determined to raise successful and happy kids. In her spare time, she loves to crochet, which is similar to knitting. She also plays the violin. Crystal lives by her favorite quote, which helps her be so successful: "What would you attempt to do if you know you could not fail?"

Meet Crystal and other qualified teachers like her at Nomen Global!

Nature Hike

Spring is one of our favorite seasons in Utah because we are always excited to see color after a long, white winter. How do we celebrate spring's arrival? We take a hike in nature! That's what we did for our Monday Activity last week. We drove a few minutes up Provo Canyon to the beautiful Bridal Veil Falls to explore some of what nature has to offer us. 

We started out in teams, each team with a camera and a list of items in nature. With our cameras in hand, we set out to take pictures of as many things on our list as possible: someone holding a giant rock, two people hugging on a bridge, a yellow flower, someone catching the sun, someone walking on water, someone doing a handstand in front of a waterfall, and many others!

After we took pictures of everything on our list, we got together for a group picture and enjoyed the new, warm weather. Take a look at our group!

If you want to know more about Nomen Global and our activities, visit our website or 'like' us on Facebook!

Grammar Guide: Adverb Clauses of Unexpected Results

Since April 1970, the United States has celebrated Earth Day. Earth Day was started to help people realize the importance of taking care of the environment. Although thousands of factories polluted the air and water everyday before the 1970s, it was not illegal. Nobody could make the factories pay for the damage they caused. Today, however, these same factories have to follow certain rules to protect our environment. On April 22 each year, people all over the United States try to do their part to remember to keep our world healthy and clean. Even though it may be difficult to do sometimes, we know that protecting our environment will keep everyone happy and healthy.

Adverb Clauses of Unexpected Results
These adverb clauses show that an actual result may be unexpected in certain circumstances. We use the subordinating conjunctions although or even though to show that the result is not what we would expect.

Notice how the result is not what we would expect in these examples:

• Although thousands of factories polluted the air and water everyday before the 1970s, it was not illegal.
• Even though it may be difficult to do sometimes, we know that protecting our environment will keep everyone happy and healthy.

In the first sentence, we would expect the factories to be punished somehow for destroying the environment. However, this was not true. We use although to show that the result is unexpected. In the second sentence, we would expect people to not worry about the environment because it might be difficult. However, we do! Even though also shows that this result is unexpected.

To learn more about Earth Day, visit the United States Environmental Protection Agency and choose something you can do to protect our planet. To learn more about Nomen Global, visit our website or 'like' us on Facebook.

Student Spotlight: Yuta Morigami

Yuta Morigami is from Japan. He first learned about Nomen Global from his sister, who studied English with us about a year ago. Yuta plans to study English at Nomen Global for an entire year! He has learned that English is necessary to get a good job, especially for international companies in Japan. Yuta says that he loves the teachers because they make the activities fun and the classes easy for him to understand.

Yuta hopes to return to Japan after he finishes studying English. He feels that his time here has already been a success. One of his greatest accomplishments so far is being able to have conversations about daily life with native speakers and other students at the school. In the future, Yuta hopes to be a millionaire, live a peaceful life, and improve his international thinking. He keeps his dreams alive with his motto: the sky's the limit.

While Yuta intends to live in Japan, he is thoroughly enjoying his experience in the United States. In fact, his favorite food is American food! In his free time, Yuta enjoys playing soccer with other students on Fridays, going shopping, and riding his bicycle around Utah Valley.

Meet Yuta and other adventurous students like him at Nomen Global!

Spring Hiking

We finally were able to hike the famous Y Mountain; however, we weren't so lucky to get a snow-free day! As planned, we drove up to the trailhead. As soon as we started our ascent, snow started to fall! We decided to push forward, and we are glad we did. The snow stopped quickly and we were happy to meet a clear and sunny sky at the top of the mountain. Take a look at some of the pictures we took on this local adventure.

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To learn more about Nomen Global, visit our website or 'like' us on Facebook!

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!