Wide context

Complete PICLE corpus of essays by Polish advanced EFL students (330,000)

/^t/Huge number of people begin studies every year. The appetite for knowledge, abundant social life and lure of the so-called academic world has brought them all to big cities, where universities and colleges are located. And there they have been affected by academic way of living, so rich in purely theoretical courses that are hardly, if at all, relevant to the outside world. Before passing entrance exams most students had hoped that after three or five years of studies they would reach a kind of prestige and social high status, and this position will secure relatively high salaries. In reality, though, things are different. People who have already got various degrees lack basic abilities to cope with the problems of the real world. Moreover, it is this ability which is valued, rather than the knowledge of theory.