By Rishita Ray
Editor's note: Adapted from Rishita's August 2018 internship report. This is a personal account of that programme, not a description of current internship arrangements or online tools.
My first internship at Modlingua changed my expectations of online learning. Before it began, I thought an online programme might not involve much work. Instead, the assignments came quickly, and I had to keep moving from one task to the next.
Flexibility still needs motivation
Working online meant I did not spend time travelling to a venue. But I also found that distance from the mentor and other interns could make it harder to start an assignment. Guidance helped, yet I still needed my own motivation to do the work.
That was one of the clearest lessons I took from the experience: an online format does not remove the need for effort. For me, its convenience came with the responsibility to stay involved when nobody was physically beside me.
Meetings and recordings supported the work
The programme combined live sessions with assignments. We could ask questions during online meetings, and recordings let us return to the material or catch up after missing a session. I valued that chance to revisit an explanation before completing a task.
Guest lectures introduced entrepreneurship and technology in language work. I had not previously thought much about how technology could become part of a linguist's daily routine, so those discussions widened my view of the field.
Learning from an edited profile
At the beginning, I prepared an introduction describing my profile and career interests. The text was corrected before publication. A later assignment asked me to identify those changes and analyse the errors in my original version.
Comparing the two versions made editing visible. I could look at specific corrections instead of treating improvement as a vague instruction to write better. I also enjoyed seeing my work become part of an online profile.
Trying work beyond my usual course
Another assignment explored how search engines can help linguists. I also volunteered to write a creative summary of a video featuring Professor Jancy James and shared my views on citizen journalism in the group's discussions.
These tasks gave me different ways to practise writing and participate. They were part of my 2018 experience, rather than a current checklist for the programme or advice about how any particular social platform works today.
What I took away
I enjoyed learning outside my usual course of study. The internship gave me a first experience of keeping up with assignments, asking questions and trying unfamiliar kinds of work.
My reflection was positive, but it also recorded a difficulty: staying motivated at a distance. That balance is what I remember most. Online learning gave me flexibility, while the work still depended on my willingness to begin and keep going.
