Some of the most common boys' names are João, Ricardo and Miguel. Common names for girls are Maria, Ana and Ines.
Students study Portuguese, science, math, philosophy, art and a foreign language (usually English, French or German). Portuguese students seemed to enjoy speaking with us about their English classes and using their knowledge of another language to watch movies or when they travel to other countries. In Portugal, a majority of college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering or math are women. However, women still do not have an equal proportion of jobs in these fields.
For foreign language and Portuguese classes, students will often have to write essays or compositions. In math and science classes, they usually have textbook exercises to complete.
After school, some students play sports or go outside to play with their friends. In Portugal, they call soccer "football," and it is the most popular sport in the country.
Some famous Portuguese figures are Amália Rodrigues, a fado singer, and Odette Ferreira, a scientist who discovered the HIV-AIDS virus type 2. You may have also heard of Fernando Pessoa, a Lisbon poet, and José Saramago, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
