entry #8- IMMIGRATION- new version

Immigration in Argentina during the Twenties´

During the decade of the 1920´s many families from Europe and other countries which were hardly affected by the First World War, immigrated to Argentina looking for a better life. One of the main reasons why Italian, Spanish and German people came to this last continental country of South America was an economic one. The war had left their countries devastated and a lot of people suffered from starvation. Apart from that, many middle class people were unemployed, they had lost their jobs and it was almost impossible to find one in a country which was trying to cope with social and economic problems. Fortunately, when they arrived to Argentina they were welcomed and they could find a ray of light here. On the whole, immigrants found in Argentina a comfortable place to live and work and despite the fact that the war in their origin countries had finished, they decided to take their roots in this land.

ENTRY #7

Paragraph 1

Educational Opportunities in Argentina

In my country, Argentina, many are the graduated students who decide to continue a career and become a professional. Despite of the fact that many courses and places to study are offered, students find it difficult to determine what and where to study. For students who are interested in becoming a teacher, there are many Teacher Training Colleges that offer different careers related to teaching. Generally, the courses consist of thirty-two subjects which are attended in a four year period. For those who are interested in obtaining a degree related to social issues, there are several Universities that provide with careers such as Social Work, Social Communication and Politics. For those who want a degree related to engineering many Universities offer careers to become electrical, electronic, chemical, civil or computing science engineer. All these careers consist of a period of six years at the very least. In the case of students who are very fond of dancing, performing, acting or singing; there are Art Institutes that provide degree courses in Dance, Lyrical Singing, Orchestral Academy and Portrayal. The periods of the courses are shorter than the ones from the Universities. They take between two and four years time; except for the Dance course that lasts nine years.

On the whole, Argentinian educational institutions provide a large number of courses and degrees so the decision about what and where to study is up to the student’s choice.

Paragraph 2

Educational Alternatives in Argentina

In my country there are several opportunities for people who procure higher educational degrees. For students who are interested in becoming a teacher, there are many Teacher Training Colleges that offer different careers related to teaching. Generally, the courses consist of thirty-two subjects which are attended in a four year period. For those who are interested in obtaining a degree related to social issues, there are several Universities that provide with careers such as Social Work, Social Communication and Politics. For those who want a degree related to engineering many Universities offer careers to become electrical, electronic, chemical, civil or computing science engineer. All these careers consist of a period of six years at the very least. In the case of students who are very fond of dancing, performing, acting or singing; there are Art Institutes that provide degree courses in Dance, Lyrical Singing, Orchestral Academy and Portrayal. The periods of the courses are shorter than the ones from the Universities. They take between two and four years time; except for the Dance course that lasts nine years.

To sum up, regarding higher education, universities and institutes offer many chances for people who are looking for high degrees in further education.

METACOGNITIVE ANALYSIS

The overall meaning of the paragraphs does not vary much for both are related to high education.
In the paragraph 1, there are two topic sentences but the second one is the controlling idea. It refers to the difficulty that students face with whenever they have to make a choice as regards place and career to study. On the other hand, in the paragraph 2, there is only one topic sentence that tells us that the topic will be about  the opportunities that the country offers to people as regards high education. I believe that both topic sentences reflect the content of the paragraph.
I think that I should have used a synonym for "student" because I have repeated the same word in the first sentences as well as in the conclusion. As regards the paragraph 2, the same stucture is repeated in the first  paragraph and in the conclusion "for people who (procure) (are looking for) high educational degrees". Maybe, she could have reprashed the conclusion sentence in order to not repeat the same stucture and words. Despite these slight differences between paragraph 1 and 2, I do believe that both of them convey in meaning.