Shadowing Practice: 6 Years in Vietnam changed how I see America - Learn English Speaking with Video

Kies een oefenmodus

Elke modus opent een volledig scherm oefenruimte.

134 zinnen

Als zinnen te kort of te lang zijn, klik op Bewerken om ze aan te passen.

After living in Vietnam for more than six years, coming back to the US feels kinda weird.

Some things are amazing, but some things are not so great.

So today we'll talk about the pros and cons of Vietnam versus America after living in both places.

We'll talk about the big things like healthcare and cost of living, but also cultural things that you've probably never even considered.

So the first pro for America, Something that I really enjoy when I come back here is all the green space and parks.

So right now we're in the suburbs outside of Chicago and look at this field of grass right across the street.

So much room for activities.

Sometimes you just want bare feet on the grass.

It may seem like a little thing, but it's something that we do pretty well in America that just doesn't exist in Vietnam.

All over Vietnam you will find AstroTurf football pitches, lots of badminton courts, little play areas for kids,

but nothing like we have here in America.

Dude, they got a straight up water park back here.

Basketball courts, baseball fields, it's all free and open to the public.

Hey.

What's up?

I'm making a video.

Oh, look who's here.

Who's that? Did you finish camp?

Yes.

Oh, did you say hi?

Did you wave to the camera?

Okay.

So the next thing is kind of a pro and a con.

So you gotta listen.

You hear that?

It's silent.

Out here in the suburbs, there's hardly any traffic.

There's barely any people around.

So it's really quiet and peaceful.

But at the same time, I kind of miss the chaos and action of Vietnam.

Over there, everybody's out and about all day.

The community feels alive.

But here, everybody's sat in the house with the AC on or they're at work.

I feel like I've hardly interacted with any human that's not a family member since I've been in America.

Now to be clear, The suburbs compared to downtown Chicago are two completely different stories.

In the city, you'll find more people walking around.

There's plenty of coffee shops and food and things to do.

Public transportation is really good, but still most people are probably taking expensive Ubers to get around, and it can take you 30 minutes to get somewhere that's not too far away.

So when it comes to transportation, I prefer Vietnam.

I like just jumping on my motorbike and cruising wherever I need to go.

The gym, the beach, coffee and food, everything's a couple minute drive away, and plenty of things are within walking distance.

Here in America, you've got to get in a car and drive anywhere you need to go.

You can make an argument for or against both places.

As I said, public transportation is definitely better in America, and there's tons of chaotic traffic in Vietnam,

but there's plenty of traffic and never-ending construction in America.

You can be stuck on the highway not moving for an hour.

In Vietnam, you're never stuck in traffic.

You could always just drive up on the sidewalk if you had to.

This is actually funny.

I just realized another pro for America.

Sidewalks.

I was making a joke earlier, but sidewalks don't exist in Vietnam.

The area on the side of the road is for parking

or driving your motorbike or maybe for eating lunch on some plastic stools.

But it seems like these sidewalks aren't getting much use because three out of four Americans are obese or overweight.

Why do you think that is?

Take a guess which country has the lowest obesity in the whole world.

That's right, Vietnam.

The food in each of these countries couldn't be further apart.

Crappy food in America is making this the most unhealthy country in the world.

So you would hope there'd be pretty good healthcare, right?

This might be the area where America fails the worst.

Healthcare sucks in America.

Sure, the quality is decent, but the price you pay

and the loops you have to jump through with insurance is pretty embarrassing for the richest country in the world.

I'll give you an example.

My dad's been dealing with an ankle injury for weeks now since I've been back in the US.

He had to wait to get approval from the insurance to get a CT scan done.

Once that finally happened, Now he has to schedule an appointment for two weeks later to actually get the scan done.

After that, he'll schedule another appointment with a specialist who's probably gonna give him a bottle of painkillers

and send him out his way.

In Vietnam, he could have showed up to the hospital without an appointment, paid out of pocket for the scan which would have been maybe 50 bucks.

Then he could see a specialist in the same day and actually have a plan to get better.

Healthcare in Vietnam is cheap,

convenient, high quality, and I would choose Vietnam over America for everything except the most extreme life or death situation.

So let's talk about food for a minute.

Say I'm hungry and I want to get something to eat.

You've got to get in the car and drive outside of the residential area to get whatever you need.

There are plenty of grocery stores around, but fresh, healthy food is gonna be pricey.

The other option is an unlimited selection of fast food, which tastes great, but it's also garbage.

In Vietnam, there's almost always gonna be a local market within walking distance where you can buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and meat.

I can buy meat from a pig that was butchered that morning, eggs from a chicken roaming the countryside, and vegetables that were picked yesterday.

America, on the other hand, relies heavily on imports of fruits and vegetables.

It can take up the two weeks for a vegetable grown in Mexico to arrive to the grocery store in Chicago.

That means more chemicals to keep it from rotting along the way.

But that's not even the biggest problem.

In America, you got to go out of your way to find healthy food and it's going to be really expensive.

But trash fast food is cheap and available on every corner.

In Vietnam, it's completely the opposite.

You got to drive for a while to find a McDonald's, but there's going to be 10 aunties within walking distance that are cooking homemade meals with fresh ingredients for about $1.50.

Here's something we don't have in Vietnam.

Big win for America.

They sell weed there, in case you couldn't tell.

Alright, let's get cost of living out of the way.

I'm not going to spend too much time here because it's obvious that America is a lot more expensive than Vietnam, but I'll give you some real-world examples.

My mom pays up to $200 per month for the electricity bill.

That's because in America, we demand comfort.

So the AC is running 24-7 in the summer and non-stop in the winter.

The winter part is actually fair because you would die.

100

So in America most houses have what's called central cooling.

101

So you set the temperature for the entire house and the AC is blowing non-stop out the vents in every room.

102

In Vietnam we have individual AC units on the wall, usually only in the bedrooms, and you turn them off and on as you need them.

103

So for comparison, the highest my electricity bill would ever be in the peak of summer is about $60.

104

And most of the time, it's a lot less than that.

105

To fill in the gas tank in your car, you might be looking at $50 or $60 at least once a week.

106

I fill up my motorbike in Vietnam for $3 maybe once a week.

107

In Vietnam, the government subsidizes fuel and electricity to keep the prices stable and affordable for most people.

108

One more pro for America.

109

I was going to say blue skies, but it got a little cloudy on me.

110

But there's pretty much no pollution here.

111

America wins this one hands down, and it is a big one.

112

Even in a busy major city like Chicago, the air is still really nice.

113

That's because we have way stricter emissions laws.

114

There's no factories, no agricultural burning in the countryside.

115

Pollution is a major problem for Vietnam, but it is something they're addressing pretty aggressively.

116

So I feel pretty good about where they're headed in the future.

117

I made a whole video about the pollution issue in Vietnam if you want to check that one out.

118

And while you're at it, you might as well subscribe to the channel if you're at all interested in Vietnam.

119

So one cultural thing that I've noticed, no one even thinks about taking their shoes off when they go inside the house.

120

In Vietnam, you would get slapped if you tried to walk in somebody's house with your shoes on.

121

That's why everybody wears slippers.

122

One more thing that's been causing me some issues over the last couple weeks, there's no bum guns in America.

123

I don't know how you can call yourself a civilized country without some way to spray your butthole with water.

124

You might as well go take a shit in the woods.

125

That with the type of food I've been eating for three weeks, yeah, we've been having some problems.

126

All in all, there's pros and cons to both places.

127

I know that growing up in America gave me the opportunity to travel the world

128

and be able to choose wherever I want to live.

129

So I love Vietnam.

130

I plan to be there forever.

131

But it has plenty of flaws, and it's definitely not for everyone.

132

So if you made it this far in the video, I really appreciate you watching.

133

I'll be back in Vietnam soon, and I'll catch you in the next one.

134

Peace.

App downloaden

Alles wat je nodig hebt om vloeiend te spreken

AI UitspraakScoor elke zin

IPA OefeningBeheers elk geluid

WoordenschatBouw je woordenschat op

WoordenspelLeren terwijl je speelt

Scan QR

Download on theApp Store Get it onGoogle Play

Zelfde Kanaal

Why are so many Foreigners leaving Da Nang?

Travel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

6 Years Living In Vietnam: What I Wish I Knew Sooner

Travel EnglishDaily ConversationUniversity Students

FOR YOU

Aanbevolen Video

275 zinnen

Woordenschat en spreektips bij deze les

Deze spreekles op niveau B2 is gebaseerd op de video “6 Years in Vietnam changed how I see America”. Deze video bevat 134 zinnen en 1662 woorden om na te spreken. Het gesproken deel duurt 8:41. De spreker praat snel, ongeveer 191 woorden per minuut, dus reken op verbonden en ingeslikte klanken. 86% van de woorden hoort bij de 3.000 meest gebruikte Engelse woorden; de rest kun je beter vooraf bekijken.

Belangrijke woorden in deze video

De 15 moeilijkste woorden uit de video, met uitspraak en betekenis:

Woord	Uitspraak	Betekenis
sidewalk zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈsaɪdwɔk/	stoep, trottoir
vegetable zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈvɛd͡ʒ.tə.bəl/	groente, gewas
motorbike werkwoord	/ˈmoʊtɚˌbaɪk/	motorrijden
scan werkwoord	/skæn/	afspeuren
pollution zelfstandig naamwoord	/pəˈluʃən/	vervuiling, milieuverontreiniging
countryside zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈkʌn.tɹiˌsaɪd/	platteland, buitengebied
embarrass werkwoord	/ɪmˈbæɹəs/	verlegen maken, in verlegenheid brengen
painkiller zelfstandig naamwoord	/ˈpeɪnˌkɪlə(ɹ)/	pijnstiller
pricey bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈpɹaɪsi/	prijzig, duur
subsidize werkwoord	/ˈsʌbsɪdaɪz/	subsidiëren
stool zelfstandig naamwoord	/stuːl/	kruk, barkruk
civilized bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈsɪv.ɪ.laɪzd/	beschaafd, geciviliseerd
cloudy bijvoeglijk naamwoord	/ˈklaʊ̯diː/	bewolkt
flaw zelfstandig naamwoord	/flɔ/	barst, barstje
aggressively bijwoord		agressief

Phrasal verbs die je zult horen

Woord	Betekenis
come back werkwoord	terugkomen
fill up werkwoord	opvullen, vollopen
hands down bijwoord	met losse handen, met gemak

Zinnen om te herhalen

Korte, volledige zinnen uit de video die je in alledaagse gesprekken kunt gebruiken:

Did you finish camp?
Did you wave to the camera?
In the city, you'll find more people walking around.
Why do you think that is?
I'll give you an example.

Grammatica in deze video

De structuren die de spreker het meest gebruikt, met de exacte woorden uit de video:

Structuur	In de video
Present perfect continuous have/has been + -ing — iets dat eerder begon en nog bezig is	dad's been dealing · that's been causing · I've been eating
Present perfect have/has + voltooid deelwoord — iets uit het verleden dat nu nog telt	I've been · I've noticed
Lijdende vorm be + voltooid deelwoord — het gaat om wat er gebeurt, niet om wie het doet	can be stuck · was butchered

Uitspraak om op te letten

De spreker gebruikt 40 samentrekkingen en verkorte vormen, zoals I've, I'll, don't. Spreek ze kort uit, zoals je ze hoort.

De klanken “sh” en “zh”: pollution /pəˈluʃən/, emission /ɪˈmɪʃ.ən/
Lange woorden — let op de klemtoon: ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, obesity /ə(ʊ)ˈbiːsɪti/, unlimited /ʌnˈlɪm.ɪ.tɪd/

Klanken die Nederlandstaligen lastig vinden:

Stemhebbende eindmedeklinker — /b/, /d/, /g/, /z/, /v/ niet verscherpen: suburbs /ˈsʌbɝbz/, countryside /ˈkʌn.tɹiˌsaɪd/, subsidize /ˈsʌbsɪdaɪz/, civilized /ˈsɪv.ɪ.laɪzd/, subscribe /səbˈskɹaɪb/
/æ/ — opener dan de Nederlandse “e”: scan /skæn/, auntie /ˈæn.ti/, badminton /ˈbæd.mɪn.tən/, embarrass /ɪmˈbæɹəs/, slap /slæp/
/g/ — een harde plofklank, geen Nederlandse “g”: grocery /ˈɡɹəʊ.s(ə.)ɹi/, ingredient /ɪnˈɡɹiːdi.ənt/, garbage /ˈɡɑɹ.bɪd͡ʒ/

Zo oefen je met deze video

Luister de hele video één keer zonder te spreken en noteer de woorden die je niet kent.
Begin op 0,75× snelheid, spreek zin voor zin na en ga terug naar normale snelheid zodra het makkelijk gaat.
Neem jezelf op en vergelijk met het origineel; let daarbij op woorden als sidewalk, vegetable, motorbike.

Wat is de Shadowing-techniek?

Shadowing is een wetenschappelijk onderbouwde taalleermethode die oorspronkelijk is ontwikkeld voor professionele tolkentraining en gepopulariseerd door polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. De methode is eenvoudig maar krachtig: je luistert naar native Engelse audio en herhaalt het onmiddellijk hardop — als een schaduw die de spreker volgt met slechts 1–2 seconden vertraging. In tegenstelling tot passief luisteren of grammaticadrills, dwingt shadowing je hersenen en mondspieren om echte spraakpatronen tegelijkertijd te verwerken en te reproduceren. Onderzoek toont aan dat het de uitspraaknauwkeurigheid, intonatie, ritme, verbonden spraak, luisterbegrip en spreekvaardigheid aanzienlijk verbetert — waardoor het een van de meest effectieve methoden is voor IELTS Speaking-voorbereiding en echte Engelse communicatie.

Shadowing-techniek: lees de volledige stap-voor-stap-gids →

Shadowing Practice: 6 Years in Vietnam changed how I see America - Learn English Speaking with Video

Kies een oefenmodus

App downloaden

Why are so many Foreigners leaving Da Nang?

6 Years Living In Vietnam: What I Wish I Knew Sooner

Ways America is More Beneficial Than Vietnam That Nobody Talks About!

"James Barkman" - VW Van Life

When Tourists Are Asian

Living in Colorado in 2026 (7 PROS & 7 CONS) | Moving to Colorado Guide

Leaving America Changed the Way I See Everything

I moved to Vietnam but never expected to live like this

A Rural American Childhood

Would I Ever Leave Vietnam & Return To America?

Tiếng Anh giao tiếp Unit 23 Places Địa điểm

Vietnam's Visa Problem Nobody Talks About

Inside Ultra Modern Vietnam🇻🇳 Ho Chi Minh City Underrated?

Jimmy O. Yang Destroys Asian Stereotypes...