Shadowing Practice: Analysis | What does the American Dream mean in 2025? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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The American dream, it's a phrase we've all heard before, and for decades, Americans largely agreed on what it meant.

Well, now new data suggests that among young people, the American dream may not be defined the same way as older Americans do.

NBC10 political commentator

Sue O 'Connell is here.

She walks us through the data.

So what is the American dream in a historical sense, and what do

Americans dream of now, Sue?

Well, Glenn, as long as America has been a country, we've had the American dream, the principle of the American dream,

equality, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

You know those words.

They're in the U .S.

Constitution.

And for decades, most of us believed it meant that if you worked hard, followed the rules, you can get a job,

own a home, raise a family.

But that was then.

This is now.

Consider the results of a new survey completed by Howdy .com.

76 percent of Gen Z and millennials believe the dream is workplace portability, meaning work from home.

And it turns out young people may not even need America to realize their American dream.

77 percent of those surveyed say they believe their lives would be better outside the U .S.

And 51 percent say just leaving the country is the new American dream.

Now, you may think there's some anti -American sentiment in those answers, and perhaps there is, but the study makes it clear.

Young people want a job and they prefer to work for an American company.

They just don't want to have to come into the office every day

and would prefer to live everywhere as opposed to owning a single home in a single place.

Some would define that as freedom.

I mean, Sue, you talk about, you know, working maybe on Zoom, but you're on a beach somewhere and you just don't show the video.

That sounds like the American dream.

But OK, but we seriously, we do say, you know, work from home.

It became popular, we know, because of the pandemic.

Are we to believe the coronavirus has had this big of an effect?

Well, in a way, Priscilla, yes.

The pandemic obviously proved that some members of the American workplace could work from home or from anywhere.

But the definition of the American dream always changes and was already changing.

Consider this.

In 1940, 92 percent of children could expect to earn more than their parents.

Today, only about 50 percent of Americans earn more than their parents did.

Now, that means that's a dramatic decline in economic mobility and housing costs.

Right.

Talk about it all the time traditional home ownership

which was the cornerstone of the american dream is becoming increasingly unattainable

so the elements

that defined what the american dream was for decades are no longer available to most americans

and so i know for some people having a family would be the american dream

so how does the fertility rate factor into all of this

so the fertility fertility rate refers to how many children are being born per woman in the u .s here

and across the country, across the country and the world, obviously, the fertility rate has been declining for several years.

It's now at a historic low of 1 .64 expected births per woman's lifetime.

For comparison, in 1960, when I was born, it was 3 .5 children per woman.

So there are many reasons why, including affordability.

But many people will tell you, Glenn, like you said, a driving force to buy a home or put down roots is starting a family.

So when people are delaying children and having smaller families, the need to stay put decreases, and that means it's easier to be a digital nomad.

All right, really interesting data coming out of that.

Sue O 'Connell, thanks so much.

Very interesting, because you know at the top level, it's shocking, but when Sue peels back the layers, it makes all the sense in the world.

I know.

I mean, the American dream can mean so many different things, but work from home on a beach.

I like that.

I think you're stuck on that one.

That's a good one.

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380 sentences

Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

The speaker keeps coming back to these words: dream, Sue, percent, fertility, decades. This video has 60 sentences and 698 words to shadow. The speech runs for 4:00. The speaker talks at a natural 175 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 86% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
fertility noun	/fɝˈtɪləti/	The condition, or the degree, of being fertile.
define verb	/dɪˈfaɪn/	To determine with precision; to mark out with distinctness; to ascertain or exhibit clearly.
earn verb	/ɝn/	To gain (success, reward, recognition) through applied effort or work.
decline verb	/dɪˈklaɪn/	To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
workplace noun	/ˈwɝkˌpleɪs/	The place where someone works.
element noun	/ˈɛləmənt/	One of the simplest or essential parts or principles of which anything consists, or upon which the constitution or fundamental powers of anything are based.
shock noun	/ʃɔk/	A sudden, heavy impact.
refer verb	/ɹɪˈfɜː/	To direct the attention of (someone toward something).
happiness noun	/ˈhæpinɪs/	The emotion of being happy; joy; elation.
dramatic adjective	/dɹəˈmætɪk/	Of or relating to the drama.
delay noun	/dɪˈleɪ̯/	A period of time before an event occurs; the act of delaying; procrastination; lingering inactivity.
layer noun	/ˈleɪ̯ɚ/	A single thickness of some material covering a surface.
ownership noun	/ˈoʊnɚʃɪp/	The state of having complete legal control of something; possession; proprietorship.
lifetime noun	/ˈlaɪf.taɪm/	The duration of the life of someone or something.
increasingly adverb		Increasing in amount or intensity.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
put down verb	To insult, belittle, or demean.
turn out verb	To end up; to result.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	may not be defined · being born · was born
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	has been · has had

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 7 contractions and reduced forms, such as don't, we've, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: shock /ʃɔk/, ownership /ˈoʊnɚʃɪp/
Long words — get the stress right: fertility /fɝˈtɪləti/, equality /ɪˈkwɑ.lɪ.ti/, mobility /mə(ʊ)ˈbɪlɪti/, commentator /ˈkɑmənˌteɪtəɹ/, coronavirus /kəˈɹoʊnəˌvaɪɹəs/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like fertility, define, earn.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

Shadowing Practice: Analysis | What does the American Dream mean in 2025? - Learn English Speaking with Video

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