Como dizer "O Aprendiz" em inglês

Thomas escreveu:
"would be" is not a very positive term. Nor is "wannabe" [want-to-be]

Neither "aprendiz" can be (in portuguese)!
Check this title out.
We can also say (humorously): "projeto de..."

Quem? Aquele projeto de gente?? - Who? that would-be folk?? << guess not that common in english though

Merriam-Webster

Main Entry: 1would-be Pronunciation Guide
Pronunciation: primarystressdoublehyphensecondarystressdoublehyphen
Function: adjective
Etymology: from the phrase would be
: desiring or professing to be : wishing to be reputed <good musicianship will enable a would-be conductor ... to improve himself -- Warwick Braithwaite> <retaliatory power is one strong deterrent to a would-be aggressor -- D.D.Eisenhower> -- often used disparagingly <looked like what he was, a would-be fighter who ... had nowhere to go -- Hamilton Basso> <turn lesson notes into would-be textbooks and go in vain the round of the publishers -- James Britton>
(As you can see, "would be" is not a very positive term. Nor is "wannabe" [want-to-be].)

A probationer has a probationary period during which he can be dismissed without specific cause.

"Apprentice" is a formal and respected term for someone who is learning a job or craft with the goal of becoming very adept and skillful at it.

Also:

The learner (learning, in training).
The beginner (somebody starting to learn).
The probationer (employee: trainee).
WR

*Adding:

Para o sentido de desiring, attempting, or professing to be:

would-be...


a would-be journalist = aprendiz de jornalista