英語趣味課堂：實習期-Internship

Todd: Some students might not know what an internship 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 stipend 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 competitive 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 weird situation because in a way it's free labor 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 learned 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 related 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.

重點詞匯：

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 allowance 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 promotion.

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