Amanda: Hi Maria! Maria: Oh, hi Amanda. Amanda: You look a bit worried, are you all right? Maria: I’m exhausted. Yesterday’s homework took me all evening. It’s probably going to double next year, isn’t it? Amanda: Probably. My older brother has to write long essays for his English literature course. But we’ll have fewer subjects to study. Have you chosen your courses yet? Maria: No, when’s the deadline? Amanda: We have another month, but the school emailed us all the list the other day. I have it on my phone. Maria: Ooh, let’s have a look, then. Amanda: Here it is. Oh, look, the Spanish and biology timetables clash. I won’t be able to do both. Maria: Would you do that, though? Languages and science don’t go together, do they? Amanda: Well, you wouldn't think so, but actually, my aunt is a research scientist, and a lot of European universities work together on projects. She’s working on a project with a university in Rome, one in Germany, and one in Portugal. Maria: Is it a biology project? Amanda: No, she’s a chemist. They’re working on a solution to clean up deadly pollution in rivers and lakes. Maria: That sounds so cool and really fascinating. Amanda: It really is. She gets to visit colleagues in different cities sometimes, and she gets her work translated into lots of different languages. She wishes she had learned some German, though, so she could communicate better with her German research partners. She understands Portuguese and Italian, but German, not so much. Maria: When did she learn Portuguese and Italian? Amanda: I think she did some of her university degree in Lisbon and some in Rome. Maria: Studying chemistry in different languages? Amanda: Yes, she loved it! Maria: So, you’re kind of following in her footsteps, then. Science and languages. You could be a biologist in Spain. Amanda: Yep, or at least study there, or South America. Maria: So, what are you going to do about the timetable clash? Amanda: I think I’ll talk to the dean.