Wide context

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

/^t/When an Englishman says he is a student, he simply makes a statement about a certain phase of life when one goes to school to get his education. In case of a Pole, however, a similar utterance is more likely to be the emphasis of his social status, rather than a general piece of information. This kind of attitude may seem somewhat surprising, considering that for the last fifty years we had so-called 'democracy' and free education. For years Polish authorities prided themselves on the availability of higher education to all citizens, irrespective of their economic status or family backgrounds. Indeed, there was a time when grants and inexpensive student accomodation were easily available, but it is all long gone now. In fact, the present situation is far from looking rosy. What are the facts then?