【英语趣味课堂】实习期-Internship

Todd: Some students might not know what an internship¹ is. Can you explain what an internship is?

Katia: Yes. An internship is when a student goes to an NGO or a company to work but most of the time you receive a stipend² or you do not get paid and the purpose for this is for the student to get experience working, to know exactly what it's like to work and when you're choosing an internship you want to choose an area that you like to learn about and to see if you really wanted to do that.

 

Todd: And you did an internship for five months?

 

Katia: For five months. It was an internship for five months.

 

Todd: Was it competitive³ to get the internship?

 

Katia: Very competitive and actually I didn't know that until I got it.

 

Todd: Really?

 

Katia: Yes and I'm glad I did not know otherwise I would feel the pressure but yes it was quite competitive I found out eventually.

 

Todd: So the internship's kind of a weird⁴ situation because in a way it's free labor⁵ for the companies and people want the internship because they want work experience. How did you feel doing an internship? Did you ever feel like you had to work maybe more than you should have or was it something you were very happy with?

 

Katia: Actually I was very happy with what I was getting. I was getting a lot of experience. I don't feel that I was working for free. I was getting a lot in return. I learned⁶ a lot so I think it really depends on where you do the internship, it's what matters. So, no, I was very happy to do the internship. It gave me a lot of experience and I realized what I wanted to do so it was worth it for me.

 

Todd: So what did you learn that you wanted to do?

 

Katia: Well before going to the internship, I liked law but I never worked nothing related⁷ with law so I wanted to experience, to know what it is and what you do and actually what does the work involve. So this was an NGO that dealt with human rights law so, yes, I realized after that yes this is what I want to do.

 

Todd: Fantastic.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the lesson

internship

 

I had an internship in college.

 

An 'internship' is a like a practice job where they pay you nothing or very little, but you get experience and can make contacts with professional. Notice the following:

 

The best thing to do when you get out of college is find an internship.

After doing a summer internship at a music studio, he knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

stipend

 

you receive a stipend or you do not get paid

 

A 'stipend' is a like an allowance⁸ that you receive to survive and buy the basics for yourself. Notice the following:

 

The company gives you a very nice stipend every month.

The stipend they gave her was only enough to pay for her apartment.

competitive

 

Was it competitive to get the internship?

 

When something is 'competitive,' it means that many people are trying to win it. Notice the following:

 

Jobs in this company are very competitive.

Every year this university is getting more competitive and more expensive.

weird situation

 

The internship's kind of a weird situation because in a way it's free labor.

 

Something is a 'weird situation' when it is not normal or typical. Notice the following:

 

It must have been a weird situation to see your ex-boyfriend yesterday.

Living with his mother when he was 35 years old was kind of a weird situation.

it was worth it

 

I realized what I wanted to do so it was worth it for me.

 

An experience is 'worth it' if you benefit from the effort that you put into it. Notice the following:

 

I was very tired and stressed during the class, but it was worth it because I got a promotion⁹.

Sometimes it's worth it to buy expensive clothes because they last longer.

 

1 internship   

n.实习医师，实习医师期

参考例句：

• an internship at a television station 在电视台的实习期
• a summer internship with a small stipend 薪水微薄的暑期实习

2 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

3 competitive   

adj.竞争的，比赛的，好竞争的，有竞争力的

参考例句：

• Some kinds of business are competitive.有些商业是要竞争的。
• These businessmen are both competitive and honourable.这些商人既有竞争性又很诚实。

4 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

5 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

6 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

7 related   

adj.有关系的，有关联的，叙述的，讲述的

参考例句：

• I am not related to him in any way.我和他无任何关系。
• We spent days going through all related reference material.我们花了好多天功夫查阅所有有关的参考资料。

8 allowance   

n.津贴，补贴，零用钱

参考例句：

• My monthly allowance is 50 yuan.我每月的津贴是50元。
• I have to work to earn my allowance.我非得工作挣零用钱。

9 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。