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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

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1

GLOSSARY

exactly – precisely; fully meeting a definition; just so
* Exercise isn’t exactly enjoyable, but I know it’s good for me, so I keep doing it.

internship – a temporary position with a business or organization, usually
unpaid, performed by a student or a recent graduate to get more experience in a
field or industry
* All business students in this program are require to complete a two-month
internship with a local business during the summer after their first year.

lackey – servant; a person who performs basic tasks for another person
* Does Sheila really pick up her boss’s dry cleaning? She’s such a lackey!

pittance – a very small amount of money; almost nothing
* This would be the perfect job if it paid more than a pittance.

scut work – boring, repetitive work that is not challenging
* Bryan has been looking for a job for more than one year, and at this point he
would accept anything, even scut work.

on-the-job experience – professional experience obtained while performing job
duties, not by studying
* This job provides a lot of on-the-job experience, so even if you’ve never used
the software before, you’ll be an expert by the end of the first six months.

to fetch – to retrieve; to get something and bring it back; to bring from
somewhere
* Kyle is trying to teach his dog to fetch his slippers and the newspaper.

to run errands – to perform a lot of tasks that require going to many different
place
* Phuong spent all afternoon running errands at the bank, the pharmacy, the dry
cleaners, the library, and the grocery store.

yippee – hooray; a phrase used to show excitement and joy, sometimes used
sarcastically
* It’s going to be sunny tomorrow! Yipee!

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

2

slave labor – work performed by people who are not paid for their work, and who
work because they do not have a choice
* Slave labor was responsible for much of the economic growth of the early
United States, particularly in the south.

to shadow – to follow a person around, observing what he or she is doing as a
way to learn from those experiences
* Our program tries to get your girls more interested in science by having them
shadow professional female scientists for a day.

to sit in on – to attend a meeting or event, but mostly as an observer, without
actively participating
* Geoff is hoping to sit in on the product development meeting and get some
ideas for his own invention.

mentor – a person who provides professional guidance and advice to a younger,
less experienced individual who hopes to have a similar career in the future
* The university tries to pair students up with mentors from the local business
community.

diddly-squat – little or nothing
* That conference was such a waste of time! We didn’t learn diddly-squat.

menial – unimportant, not challenging, and not requiring special skills
* Why don’t you hire an assistant to do all of the menial tasks, so you can focus
on making the important decisions?

unpaid – without receiving payment for one’s work; with volunteer labor
* These volunteer projects are unpaid, but they’re really great to list on your
resume.

racket – an unethical or illegal way to make money; a scam
* If you get an email asking you to help make an international bank transfer in
exchange for a percentage of the amount, don’t believe it. It’s a racket.

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). Posting of
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3

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What is scut work?
a) A pittance.
b) Menial tasks.
c) Diddly squat.

2. What does Jonas mean when he says, “What a racket!”
a) The work environment is too noisy.
b) Companies are making a lot of money by not paying interns.
c) Internships are a great opportunity.

______________


WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to shadow
The verb “to shadow,” in this podcast, means to follow a person around,
observing what he or she is doing as a way to learn from those experiences:
“Could I shadow an employee for a day to learn more about the job before
deciding whether or not I should accept the offer to work here?” A “shadow” is
the dark images on the ground made when a person or object blocks the light:
“Our shadows are tallest at the beginning and end of the day, when the sun is
low on the horizon.” Finally, when talking about makeup, “eye shadow” is a
colored power placed over the eyelid to make someone more beautiful: “That
green eye shadow matches your dress so perfectly!”

racket
In this podcast, the word “racket” means a scam, or an unethical or illegal way to
make money: “These marketing programs are such a racket, and thousands of
people have lost their savings by participating.” When talking about sports, a
“racket” is a tool with a round or square net on a handle, used to hit balls: “Venus
swung the tennis racket really hard and scored the winning point of the game.”
Or, “To serve, just reach up in the sky with your racket and hit the ball over the
net.” Finally, a “racket” is a very loud noise: “The neighbor’s cats were fighting all
night, making a terrible racket.” Or, “How can you call that music? I can’t handle
all this racket!”

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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

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4

CULTURE NOTE

The Legality of Unpaid Internships

For years, many students and “recent graduates” (people who finished school not
very long ago) have completed unpaid internships to gain professional
experience, to learn about their chosen industry, and “network” (build
professional relationships) with industry leaders. The National Association of
Colleges and Employers reports that 55 percent of the “class of 2012” (the
students who graduated in the spring of 2012) had internships, almost half of
which were unpaid.

The “general view” (what most people think about something) is that, although
working without pay is a “hardship” (something that is difficult and challenging
and creates problems), it is “counterbalanced” (outweighed; made up for) by the
intern’s greater “potential for employment” (likelihood of being hired) after
completing the internship. Supporters of unpaid internships believe that a good
internship is an “incredible” (unbelievable) opportunity to “gain” (earn; get) on-
the-job experience that would “otherwise” (under other circumstances) be difficult
to get or would require getting an expensive advanced degree or additional
training.

However, other people argue that unpaid internships allow large companies to
“exploit” (take advantage of and treat unfairly) young workers. They believe that
companies “pocket the profits” (save additional money) by having an intern
complete “entry-level” (a job for individuals with relatively little experience) tasks
instead of hiring a new employee to do the job.

Recently, an unpaid intern “sued” (took to court) a film production studio for
having “violated” (broken) laws related to “minimum wage” (the minimum amount
that must be paid to a worker by law) and “overtime” (hours worked beyond one’s
regular schedule). The court agreed, but people are still “debating” (discussing
with different opinions) the “legality” (whether something is allowed under the
law) of unpaid internships.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – b; 2 – b

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

5

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 944 – Working as
an Intern.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 944. I’m your host, Dr.
Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California . . . even though that wasn't very beautiful.

Our website is beautiful. Go to ESLPod.com. Become a member of ESL Podcast
and download a Learning Guide for this episode.

This episode is a dialogue between Jonas and Crystal about working as an intern
in a company. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Jonas: How’s your new job?

Crystal: It’s not a job exactly. It’s an internship.

Jonas: Oh, so you’re working as somebody’s lackey and getting paid a pittance.

Crystal: No, not exactly. I’m doing a lot of scut work and I’m not getting paid a lot,
but I’m getting very valuable on-the-job experience.

Jonas: Sure you are. You’re learning how to fetch coffee and run errands.
Yippee! You don’t have to tell me any more. I know all about it. It’s slave labor.

Crystal: No, it’s not! I’m shadowing one of the managers part of the day and I sit
in on important meetings all the time. My mentor shows me how things are done
in the business world and gives me great career advice.

Jonas: Well, then you’re lucky. Most interns who work for our company learn
diddly-squat and spend their time doing menial work. Some of them are even
unpaid. What a racket!

Crystal: In that case, I’m glad I don’t work for your company!

[end of dialogue]

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

6

Our dialogue begins with Jonas asking Crystal, “How's your new job?” Crystal
says, “It's not a job exactly. It's an internship.” When we say something isn't
“exactly this” or “exactly that,” we’re saying that it doesn't quite meet the full
definition of whatever it is that we are trying to describe it as. Sometimes, we
even use it with a little bit of sarcasm, trying to make a joke: “Exercise isn't
exactly fun, but it's good for your body.” Here, it's being used more in the sense
that the word that Jonas uses is not precisely or completely correct. Jonas asked
Crystal how her new job is, and Crystal says, “It's not a job exactly.” That means
it doesn't meet the definition of a job.

Instead, she says, “It's an internship.” An “internship” (internship) is a temporary
position, typically in a business or an organization, usually one that you don't get
paid for. The purpose of internships is to give people who don't have a lot of
experience, especially students in college, a way of learning more about the area
that interests them, the kind of business that interests them. Internships are very
popular for college students and for those who recently graduated from college.

Jonas says, “Oh, so you're working as somebody’s lackey and getting paid a
pittance.” A “lackey” (lackey) is an older term for a servant, someone who
performs tasks for another person, usually things that aren’t very difficult or that
don't require a lot of intelligence. A “lackey” is always someone who works for
another person. It's definitely an insulting term. “To get paid a pittance” (pittance)
is to receive a very small amount of money. A “pittance” is a very small amount of
something, almost nothing. We often use that when talking about how much
someone gets paid or how much money they got from a certain activity. If it's a
very small amount, we might call it a pittance.

Crystal says, “No, not exactly,” meaning, once again, she's not exactly a lackey
and getting paid a pittance, although there might be some truth to that
description. She says, “I'm doing a lot of scut work and I'm not getting paid a lot,
but I'm getting very valuable on-the-job experience.” The expression “scut (scut)
work” is used to describe work that is boring – work that is repetitive, that doesn't
change. It's the same every day, every hour, even. “Scut work” is definitely the
kind of work that you don't want to do but someone has to do.

“On-the-job experience” is professional experience you get working at a job, not
studying in school. “On-the-job” simply means “while you are working.” Jonas
says, “Sure you are.” Jonas is joking here. He's being sarcastic. Crystal is saying
that she's getting valuable on-the-job experience, even though she doing a lot of
scut work and not getting paid very much. Jonas doesn't really believe what
Crystal says when she says she's getting this on-the-job experience.

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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). Posting of
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7

Jonas says, “You're learning how to fetch coffee and run errands.” “To fetch”
(fetch) means to go get something for someone and bring it back to them. “To
fetch” means to obtain. It's often used when talking about a dog going and
fetching something, some object, and bringing it back to his owner. The classic
example of this would be having the dog fetch your newspaper. When your
newspaper is delivered to your house in the morning, you could send your dog
out to fetch it. I don't have a dog, so I fetch my own newspaper.

Jonas is talking about “fetching coffee,” meaning getting coffee for the bosses,
and he also mentions the task of “running errands.” An “errand” (errand) is
something you have to do away from your house or where you are working. “To
run an errand” means to go to, for example, somewhere like the post office or a
grocery store or the pharmacy, when you have, usually small things that you
need to do, at some place away from where you are working or living. “Errands”
are usually things that aren’t very important and don't take that much time to
complete. We use the verb “to run” with the noun “errands.” We talk about
“running errands” – that means going and doing different things outside of your
house.

“Yippee!” says Jonas. “You don't have to tell me any more. I know all about it. It's
slave labor.” Jonas uses the word “yippee” (yippee). This is a word that is used to
show excitement, to show joy, to show happiness. However, nowadays it's used
mostly by people who are joking, who are being sarcastic. “I went to Las Vegas
and gambled and I won ten dollars. Yippee!” I'm being sarcastic there, since
winning ten dollars isn't something you would normally celebrate or be really
happy about, although I guess it's better than losing ten dollars. Most people lose
a lot more when they go to places like Las Vegas to gamble.

But in our story, there's no gambling. There is just what Jonas calls “slave labor.”
A “slave” (slave) is a person who is owned by another person, who is treated as
property, as a thing that you would own. “Slave labor” would be work done by
slaves. Once again, Jonas isn't saying that Crystal is literally – actually – a slave,
but she is working under conditions like a slave. She is working basically for little
or no pay.

Crystal disagrees. She says, “No, it's not!” – it's not slave labor – “I'm shadowing
one of the managers part of the day, and I sit in on important meetings all the
time.” “To shadow” (shadow) here means to follow a person around to see what
they do during the day. This is popular in some companies with some
internships. Young college students are allowed to come into the building and
follow a boss, follow an executive, around during the day to see what he or she
does. They probably don't shadow them to the bathroom . . . I don't think.

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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

8

Crystal says she sits in on important meetings. “To sit in on” means to go to a
meeting but not actually be a participant – to go to a meeting or an event but not
actually participate in the event. You’re just observing. Crystal says that her
mentor shows her “how things are done in the business world” and gives her
“great career advice.” Her mentor gives her suggestions about what to do in her
future life as an employee or as a worker.

Jonah says, “Well, then you're lucky. Most interns who work for our company
learn -squat.” “Diddly (diddly) -squat (squat)” is an old, somewhat funny term
meaning little or nothing. “I didn't do diddly-squat today.” That means I didn't do
hardly anything. Don't tell my boss. Jonas says that the interns at his company
“learn diddly-squat” – that is, nothing – “and spend their time doing menial work.”
“Menial” (menial) is something that is not very important, that doesn't require very
much skill. Jonas says, “Some of them” – some of the interns – “are even
unpaid,” meaning they don't receive any money for working at the company.

Finally, he says, “What a racket!” The expression “What a racket” (racket) is used
to talk about something that is either illegal or unethical, something that involves
cheating another person, typically. Jonas is saying that his company is cheating
the employees by making them work and do things that aren’t very important and
not paying them. Crystal says, “In that case, I'm glad I don't work for your
company!” Crystal says if what Jonah says is true about his company, she's glad
she doesn't work for his company. She's glad that she's an intern at a different
company.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Jonas: How’s your new job?

Crystal: It’s not a job exactly. It’s an internship.

Jonas: Oh, so you’re working as somebody’s lackey and getting paid a pittance.

Crystal: No, not exactly. I’m doing a lot of scut work and I’m not getting paid a lot,
but I’m getting very valuable on-the-job experience.

Jonas: Sure you are. You’re learning how to fetch coffee and run errands.
Yippee! You don’t have to tell me any more. I know all about it. It’s slave labor.

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 944 – Working as an Intern

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

9

Crystal: No, it’s not! I’m shadowing one of the managers part of the day and I sit
in on important meetings all the time. My mentor shows me how things are done
in the business world and gives me great career advice.

Jonas: Well, then you’re lucky. Most interns who work for our company learn
diddly-squat and spend their time doing menial work. Some of them are even
unpaid. What a racket!

Crystal: In that case, I’m glad I don’t work for your company!

[end of dialogue]

Our scriptwriter doesn't sit around doing diddly-squat. She's working. She's
writing scripts. Thank you, Dr. Lucy Tse, for your wonderful scripts.

From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come
back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast was written and produced by Dr. Lucy
Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. Copyright 2013 by the Center for Educational
Development.