What is the most important information in your CV? Your school or university? Your degree subject? Your grades? The answer is: none of these. According to the Confederation of British Industry, 80% of employers first look at the experience and skills you acquire on an internship. Work experience is now an essential part of a university education. But competition for places in Europe and the US is fierce, so more and more students are doing their internships in China. As the second biggest economy in the world, China has lots of opportunities for interns to acquire experience. It also offers the chance to learn a new language and to demonstrate the ability to live and work in a different culture.

‘It was very difficult to find an internship in the UK,’ says Shaun Duggan, a graduate in business studies, ‘so I decided to go to Shanghai. It was the best decision of my life! After a year in China, I’m more independent, more confident and better at working with people who are different from me. When I came back to London, I had three interviews. In each one, we talked about my experiences in China for most of the time, and all three companies offered me a job.’

So how difficult is it to live and work in China? Julia Barton works for an agency that sends students to work in multinational firms in Beijing. ‘There are four essential skills for working across cultures. First of all, you need intercultural sensitivity, that is to say, the ability to see things in different ways, and to understand how your own cultural values are different from other people’s.’A second important skill is managing uncertainty. Barton gives the classic example of attitudes to time.‘Americans and the British always want quick decisions. But Asians generally prefer to take more time rather than make the wrong decision. Multicultural teams need to be patient and live with uncertainty.’ Thirdly, successful interns adjust their communication to the local style. ‘Chinese organizations are hierarchical,’ says Duggan. ‘Everyone respects the boss. You need to think carefully before you speak, and to be diplomatic.’

The fourth skill that impresses employers is the ability to build relationships between people from different cultures. Sandra Kay describes her experience in Beijing. ‘In China, team spirit is very important. We always had lunch together, and we often went out together after work. Now I work in an international team in Paris, and I encourage everyone to do things together. My manager is impressed because the working environment is friendly and productive.’

(from “The Business” Pre-Intermediate 2.0)

2. 5 Listening exercise (tracks 7–8). Listen to two people talking about their internships. Are they happy with them? Complete the table.

Discussion

1    Would you like to do an internship? If so, where and what type of work?

If not, why not?

2    Would you pay an agency to organize an internship for you?

Why? Why not?

2.7   Say these numbers. Then listen and check (track 9).

• 99 _____________                   • 900,999_____________

• 101_____________                  • 1,000,000_____________

• 1,000 _____________              • 3.5m_____________                                

• 1,500_____________              • 2.5bn_____________

• 7,777 _____________             • 2.575_____________

• 88,888 _____________           • $110_____________

• 100,000 _____________                        • ?15.99_____________

2.8      Learn the names of these symbols.

When people are spelling an email address, they sometimes use the name of

the symbol @ and it has quite a few different names; people call it arroba

or commercial at; they also call it the at sign and sometimes the at symbol.

2.9 Time. Match the times that mean the same.

1  half past two in the afternoon       

2  four twenty a.m.            

3  twenty-five to one

4  (a) quarter past eight in the evening

5  17.01

6  (a) quarter to two

7  two thirty p.m.

8  20.15

9  oh eight hundred hours

10  twenty past four in the morning

11  twenty-three hundred hours

12  about five o’clock

13  eleven o’clock at night

14  eight o’clock sharp

15  thirteen forty-five

16  twelve thirty-five p.m.

2.10 Work with a partner. Take turns to ask what time you do the following:

e.g. What time do you wake up in the morning?

  I usually wake up about half past seven. But on Saturdays, I wake up after   

  ten o’clock.

get home          get up               go to bed          go to sleep           

have dinner     have lunch      leave home     wake up

2.10 Dates. We write: ‘15 September, 1983’or ‘September 15, 1983’.

We say: ‘the fifteenth of September nineteen eighty-three’or

‘September (the) fifteenth nineteen eighty-three’.

Say these dates.

1 9 November, 1989                    5 21 July, 1969

2 1 January, 1999                        6 22 January, 1901

3 11 February, 1990                    7 11 March, 2011

4 3 August, 1492                          8 4 July, 1776

Complete the sentences with the dates from above.

1  Columbus left Europe for America on _______ .

2  The Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami happened on _______.

3  The Berlin Wall fell on_______ .

4  Neil Armstrong walked on the moon on_______ .

5  Queen Victoria died, aged 81, on _______.

6  Nelson Mandela was released from prison on _______.

7  The USA declared independence on_______ .

8  The euro was launched on_______ .

2.11 Grammar. Present simple.

Facts: The earth revolves around the sun.

Routines: We have a coffee break at 11am.

Permanent situations: The President lives in Washington.

Complete the sentences about national stereotypes with the correct form of the verbs below.