Experience 1: 实习经历 Internship Experience

by | Aug 9, 2019 | Experience

Background Information

Internship opportunities can be excellent opportunities to gain experience in a potential future career. In China’s increasingly competitive job market, internship experience can be a helpful plus on an application. China’s tech industry is an especially popular field for internships. In fact, many foreigners are coming to China in the hopes of obtaining internship experience. However, reports of long hours and irrelevant work assignments have prompted China’s Ministry of Education to call out bad actors who have been accused of abusing interns as a source of unpaid labor.

Foreign Interns Head to China (The New York Times)

China Bans ‘Irrelevant’ Internships To Curb Student Exploitation (Sixth Tone)

实习经历 Internship Experience

Suggested Level

Context Information: Elisa is an American student, and 艾 (Ài) is a domestic Chinese student. They are discussing Elisa’s internship experience in Alaska.

艾: 你以后选的时候要说你们周六上班吗？(laughing)

Elisa: (laughing) 对。我以前做一个暑假实公司在一个三文鱼工厂1。

艾: 哦，是罐头还是新鲜的鱼？

Elisa: 新鲜的鱼。我们一天都不放假。工作五个礼拜，没有放假。

艾: 所以是从早上可能八点到晚上。

Elisa: 早上八点到晚上十二点2。

艾: 哇！ 

Elisa: 特别辛苦。

艾: 所以工资高吗？

Elisa: 还行还行最好的是在阿拉斯加州。

艾: 嗯。

Elisa: 是，然后他们会是3一个，没有人想做的工作。

艾: 哦。

Elisa: 所以来吸吸引人他们会付你的机票，对所以挺好的这样可以有机会去阿拉斯加州。

艾: 哇！

Elisa: 然后可以玩然后特别美丽所以我觉得还值得因为像4工作五个礼拜像挣很多钱因为，像工作那么长的时间然后，可以就在阿拉斯加州玩。

艾: 但是其实你一天都在工作比较少的时间。

Elisa: 对，可是工作以后像可以花上一个礼拜两个礼拜就，玩一玩。

艾: 哦。

Elisa: 所以还还可以 (laughing)。可是我觉得我不会再做这样的工作 (laughing)。

艾: (laughing) 为了体验一下就好。

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1. Here, 我以前做一个暑假实公司在一个三文鱼工厂 (wǒ yǐqián zuò yīgè shǔjià shí gōngsī zài yīgè sānwényú gōngchǎng) might sounds a bit strange to a native speaker. It should be ordered 我以前有一个暑假在一个三文鱼工厂实习 (wǒ yǐqián yǒu yīgè shǔjià zài yīgè sānwényú gōngsī shíxí) ‘I had a summer at a salmon factory doing an internship’.

2. 半夜 (bànyè) also means ‘midnight’.

3. Here, 会 (huì) should be omitted.

4. Throughout this dialogue, Elisa uses 像 (xiàng) ‘to appear similar to’ as a filler word similar to ‘like’ in English. However, most Chinese speakers would not use 像 in this way.

Vocabulary

      1. 选 (xuǎn) To pick; to choose
      2. 上班 (shàngbān) To go to work
      3. 暑假 (shǔjià) Summer break
      4. 三文鱼 (sānwényú) Salmon
      5. 工厂 (gōngchǎng) Factory
      6. 罐头 (guàntou) Tin; jar
      7. 新鲜 (xīnxián) Fresh
      8. 放假 (fàngjià) To take a break; to take a vacation
      9. 礼拜 (lǐbài) Week
      10. 辛苦 (xīnkǔ)  Hard; laborious
      11. 工资 (gōngzī) Pay; salary
      12. 吸引 (xīyǐn) To attract
      13. 值得 (zhíde) To be worth something; to be deserving of something
      14. 体验 (tǐyàn) To learn by means of experience