Studies

This dialogue is a conversation between two girl-friends, Mary and Ann. They met in the street quite by chance. The girls used to study at school together, but haven't seen each other for a long time. So, the conversation begins.

• Hello, Ann, I haven't seen you for ages. How are you?

• Just fine, thanks. And you?

• I'm OK. I hear you passed all your entrance exams with excellent marks. So, you're a student now, aren't you?

• I am. And I know that you were lucky at the exams too. But I'm eager to know why you chose the Faculty of Economics.

• Well, both my father and mother are economists, you know. So I made up my mind to follow in my parents footsteps. Besides, I didn't know what subjects I liked better: the humanities or technical ones. And to my mind this faculty combines them wonderfully.

• I see you made the right choice as you are so fond of your studies. As for me, I came to the conclusion of becoming a teacher many years ago when I was quite a little girl. I consider this profession the most noble in the world because teachers devote their lives to children, their education and upbringing.

• But this profession is very difficult too. Teachers are overworked and underpaid.

• That's not the way I look at it, Mary. It's the job I care about, not the money.

• But you'll have to care about the money too when you have your own family.

• I'm not afraid of difficulties because, as the English proverb goes, "Where there's a will, there's a way".

• I see you're going to become a real teacher. So why did you decide to deal with foreign languages?

• Well, I think it's very important to know foreign languages, because it broadens our intellectual and cultural horizons and lets us communicate with people from other countries.

• But why did you choose English and not French or German?

• Nowadays English has become the world's most important language in politics, science, trade and cultural relations.

• I understand that it's very interesting, but to my mind it takes a lot of time to study a foreign language properly.

• Right you are. I have to work hard at my English. I spend a lot of time doing my home assignments, but I'm not at all sorry because one always has to work hard to make good progress.

• Well, I have to work much too. We have Mathematics, English, Computing, Economics, of course and also History of our native land, for which I don't care much. I was not very good at History, you know.

• And our most terrible and strangest subject is Latin.

• You don't say so! I can't imagine what Latin words may sound like. And what do you learn at your classes of Latin?

• We study Grammar and learn new words: nouns, verbs, adjectives. And we also learn proverbs.

• Oh, Ann! Say something in Latin, please.

• OK. This is a proverb: "Scientia potentia est".

• But what does it mean?

• It means "Knowledge is power". By the way, do you like your time-table? Is everything convenient to you?

• Yes, we have two or three classes a day. There are breaks between them which last ten minutes. We also have a lunch break between second and third periods.

• Our working day is divided into sections by bells too. There's a joke in our group that we live like fire-horses. And, Mary, what do you usually do during the long break?

• Well, sometimes I go to the buffet with my fellow-students to have a cup of coffee with chocolate or a cake. But when I'm not very hungry I can revise my home task or have a little rest, as well. By the way, what about coming with me to a cafe right now to have some ice-cream?

• With pleasure.

• Let's go then!