Discussion Groups / British English / May 2004

As a native UK English speaker, I've never come across that use.

--
Mike Stevens, narrowboat Felis Catus II
Web site www.mike-stevens.co.uk
Me cogitare credo, ergo me esse credo.  (Rainy Day Carts)

Yes, the word "stage" used in Italy to mean "training working
experience, generally unpaid", is a French term, not to be mixed with
English word "stage", which has other meanings.
Yet, a lot of Italians don't know it, so they pronounce "stage" as if
it  were English and not French.

Here's how wordreference.com translates the French term "stage" into
English  

training period
training course

stage en entreprise = work experience placement

The English word "stage", on the contrary, has many other meanings,
but not the aforementioned, AFAIK.

Source: The Collins English Dictionary © 2000 HarperCollins
Publishers:

stage
noun

1      a distinct step or period of development, growth, or progress
example: a child at the toddling stage
   
2      a raised area or platform
   
3      the platform in a theatre where actors perform
   
4      the. the theatre as a profession
   
5      any scene regarded as a setting for an event or action
   
6      a portion of a journey or a stopping place after such a portion
   
7      short for: stagecoach
   
8      (British)  a division of a bus route for which there is a fixed
fare
   
9      one of the separate propulsion units of a rocket that can be
jettisoned when it has burnt out
See also: multistage [1]
   
10      any of the various distinct periods of growth or development in
the life of an organism, esp. an insect
example: a larval stage
example: pupal stage
   
11      the organism itself at such a period of growth
   
12      a small stratigraphical unit; a subdivision of a rock series or
system
   
13      the platform on a microscope on which the specimen is mounted for
examination
   
14      (Electronics)  a part of a complex circuit, esp. one of a number
of transistors with the associated elements required to amplify a
signal in an amplifier
   
15      a university subject studied for one academic year
example: Stage II French
   
16      by or in easy stages  not hurriedly
example: he learned French by easy stages   
verb

17      [transitive]  to perform (a play), esp. on a stage
example: we are going to stage ``Hamlet''
   
18      [transitive]  to set the action of (a play) in a particular time
or place
   
19      [transitive]  to plan, organize, and carry out (an event)
   
20      [intransitive]   (obsolete)
to travel by stagecoach   
[ETYMOLOGY: 13th Century: from Old French estage position, from Vulgar
Latin staticum (unattested), from Latin stare to stand]

Ciao!