Upper-Intermediate - Gap Year (D2562)

A: 刚才的散伙饭吃得可真尽兴!
gāngcái de sànhuǒfàn chī de kě zhēn jìnxìng!
I really ate to my heart's content just now at the farewell dinner party.
B: 是啊,你喝了好多啊。
shì a, nǐ hē le hǎo duō ā.
Yeah and you drank a lot.
A: 哈哈……
hāhā……
Haha......
C: 我们寝室除了两个考研的,剩下我们几个就得面临找工作啦。
wǒmen qǐnshì chúle liǎng gè kǎoyán de, shèngxià wǒmen jǐ ge jiù de miànlín zhǎo gōngzuò la.
In our dormitory, besides the two who are taking the entrance exam for graduate school, there is a few of us left who are faced with finding work.
B: 是啊,好难啊。感觉现在用人单位要求好高啊。又要成绩好,又要工作经验。
shì a, hǎo nán ā. gǎnjué xiànzài yòngréndānwèi yāoqiú hǎo gāo ā. yòu yào chéngjì hǎo, yòu yào gōngzuò jīngyàn.
Yeah, it's so hard. I feel that nowadays the employing unit's requirements are so high. You need both good grades and also work experience.
A: 我打算先不找工作,在外面闯荡一年或者出去旅游。国外好像比较流行这样的。他们叫Gap Year。
wǒ dǎsuàn xiān bù zhǎo gōngzuò, zài wàimian chuǎngdàng yī nián huò zhě chūqù lǚyóu. guówài hǎoxiàng bǐjiào liúxíng zhèyàng de. tāmen jiào Gap Year.
I plan not to look for work right away and to wander around for a year or go travelling. It seems like this is quite popular abroad. They call it Gap Year.
B: 间隔年?空档年?就是工作学习到一半,辞职或休学去干其他事情?
jiāngénián? kòngdàngnián? jiùshì gōngzuò xuéxí dào yībàn, cízhí huò xiūxué qù gàn qítā shìqing?
A sabbatical year? An interval year? That is, working or studying for half a year and then resigning from one's work or defering one's studies to do other things?
A: 每个人理解都不一样嘛,我反正打算出去旅游,增加自己的人生阅历。
měi ge rén lǐjiě dōu bù yīyàng ma, wǒ fǎnzhèng dǎsuàn chūqù lǚyóu, zēngjiā zìjǐ de rénshēng yuèlì.
Everyone's understanding is different. Anyway, I plan to travel and increase my life experience.
C: 人生阅历又不能当饭吃,你旅游得花钱吧,不工作哪来的钱?
rénshēng yuèlì yòu bù néng dāng fàn chī, nǐ lǚyóu dei huāqián ba, bù gōngzuò nǎ lái de qián?
You can't live on life experience. You need to spend money to travel, right? If you are not working, where will the money come from?
B: 就是,这种东西我觉得不适合咱们中国人,不符合国情。
jiùshì, zhèzhǒng dōngxi wǒ juéde bù shìhé zánmen Zhōngguórén, bù fúhé guóqíng.
That's true. I think this isn't right for us Chinese. It's not in keeping with the situation of the country.
C: 身不由己啊,读书、大学、工作、结婚生子这些程序注定是安排好的,哪有实现自我价值的时间啊。
shēnbùyóujǐ ā, dúshū、 dàxué、 gōngzuò、 jiéhūn shēngzǐ zhèxiē chéngxù zhùdìng shì ānpái hǎo de, nǎyǒu shíxiàn zìwǒjiàzhí de shíjiān ā.
You don't own yourself. Studying, university, working, getting married and having children, this course of events is destined to be mapped out. Where is there time for fulfilling your self-worth?
A: 我的想法和你们不一样,我要留给自己一点时间追求梦想。
wǒ de xiǎngfǎ hé nǐmen bù yīyàng, wǒ yào liú gěi zìjǐ yīdiǎn shíjiān zhuīqiú mèngxiǎng.
My ideas are different than yours'. I want to set aside some time to pursue my dreams.
B: 现在很多企业要求求职者具备迅速上手的工作能力,看重经验以提高企业的经济效益。
xiànzài hěn duō qǐyè yāoqiú qiúzhízhě jùbèi xùnsù shàngshǒu de gōngzuò nénglì, kànzhòng jīngyàn yǐ tígāo qǐyè de jīngjì xiàoyì.
Now many businesses are requiring applicants to possess the ability to master new work rapidly and they value experience in order to increase the economic returns of the business.
C: 是啊,如果毕业生有一年无相关工作经验的空档期,次年应聘时就会和有经验的人同场竞技,失去应聘优势。
shì a, rúguǒ bìyèshēng yǒu yī nián wú xiāngguān gōngzuò jīngyàn de kòngdàngqī, cì nián yìngpìn shí jiù huì hé yǒu jīngyàn de rén tóngchǎngjìngjì, shīqù yìngpìn yōushì.
Yeah. If a graduate student has a gap of one year of unrelated work experience, the next year when applying for a position they will have to compete with those in the same field who have experience, and will lose the advantage when applying.
A: 咱们还是聊聊其他的吧。
zánmen háishì liáoliao qítā de ba.
Let's talk about something else, ok?

Key Vocabulary

散伙饭 sànhuǒfàn farewell dinner party
尽兴 jìnxìng to enjoy oneself to the full
考研 kǎoyán to take an entrance exam for graduate school
面临 miànlín to be faced with
用人单位 yòngréndānwèi employing unit
闯荡 chuǎngdàng to make a living on the road
空档 kòngdàng gap or interval of time
阅历 yuèlì experience
国情 guóqíng national circumstances
身不由己 shēnbùyóujǐ involuntarily, in spite of oneself
注定 zhùdìng to be destined, fate
实现 shíxiàn to fulfill
自我价值 zìwǒjiàzhí self-worth
追求 zhuīqiú to pursue
相关 xiāngguān related
竞技 jìngjì competition of a skill
应聘 yìngpìn to apply for a job

Supplementary Vocabulary

国企 guóqǐ state-owned enterprise
退学 tuìxué drop out of school
竞技场 jìngjìchǎng arena

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