Shadowing Practice: 全英｜为什么很多美国女孩不想结婚？Why aren't people getting married anymore? - Learn English Speaking with YouTube

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What do American girls really think about marriage?
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What do American girls really think about marriage?
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To be honest, from my experience,
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I would say that most of us don't want to get married at all.
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But that's not to say that there aren't a lot of people here who still want to get married,
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and of course, everyone has their own opinions about marriage.
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But overall, I think the trend is that most Americans are not getting married,
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or they're getting married much later in life.
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First, I think it's really important to understand
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that our dating culture is really different
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and most people here will date purely out of love
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and we don't really consider too much about our partner's financial status
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or their job or how much property they have and no,
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there is no Tylee in America.
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Usually after you're married, you'll go buy a house together and and combine your incomes to pay it off together.
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So when we're dating, we basically just think it's important to find someone with similar values and similar life goals,
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but mostly we want someone that we can fall in love with
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and someone who brings joy and happiness to our day-to-day life.
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Because if we're gonna spend the rest of our life with one person,
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it better be someone that we truly want to see every day.
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So why don't American girls want to get married?
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There are two main reasons,
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and the first one is that it's super hard to find a really good guy here.
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A lot of American guys don't do any household chores.
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They're not really good at taking care of the kids and they can be extremely selfish.
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So for girls after they get married they're expected to keep doing their full-time jobs
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and take care of the house and do all of the child care.
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So I can tell you from experience of watching my mom do this,
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it can get really really exhausting.
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In Chinese, there's the phrase 中男情女,
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and I think a lot of people think that America isn't this way,
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but in most places, I would say it really is,
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and girls are expected to do a lot more than boys.
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For example, I have three brothers,
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and I'm the only daughter,
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so I was expected to do a lot more than them and before I was even 10 years old,
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I could cook, clean, do the dishes,
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mow the yard, take care of the house,
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and take care of my younger brothers.
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Literally anything needed to be done around the house,
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I could do it and I was expected to do it.
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But even to this day,
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I don't even think that some of my brothers know how to do the laundry.
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So there are a lot of things in American culture that are are really unfair for women and in turn,
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it's kind of given us this negative impression of marriage.
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And this leads us to the second reason that American girls don't really want to get married anymore,
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which is because these days most girls can live a very full and happy life being totally independent.
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More and more women are getting a better education,
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which leads them to higher paying jobs and being able to fully support themselves.
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In the past, girls were expected to get married and have kids
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and just live as a housewife and
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if you didn't do this it was basically socially unacceptable and you could be ostracized from society.
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But now I would say most of the girls that I know are living perfectly happy lives,
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being totally independent, and they have a good group of friends
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and family who support them while they go study or work to support themselves.
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Getting married is definitely not the main focus of their entire life.
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I think it's super important
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that girls are able to have this choice to choose what they want their future to be
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and while it may be the case that most Americans don't really want to get married,
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there are still plenty of Americans who do get married.
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Especially if you go to some smaller towns in America where the cost of living is much lower
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and people can have a more relaxed lifestyle,
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you'll be able to see more and more people getting married
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and having kids because they don't need to work so much
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or they can rely on one person's income if they have a really good job.
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So in these situations there are some women who are housewives and there's no real negative connotation to this word
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unless you say it like she's just a housewife.
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Then it can come off as really judgmental.
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Most Americans don't really judge when someone says they're a housewife
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or a stay-at-home mom or something like that
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because we know how hard it is to take care of the whole house and to raise kids basically on your own.
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Some people might feel jealous
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or they might feel like those women aren't living up to their full potential by just being a housewife,
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but those judgmental people are really just a minority.
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So even though a lot of American girls are choosing not to get married recently,
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I would say that deep down,
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a lot of us still do want to get married.
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It's just really hard to find the right person.
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I think marriage should be pretty simple and easy and really romantic as long as we have that right person.
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But without that person, I think it just makes life way more difficult for a lot of women.
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Anyway, I hope this video helped you understand more about American culture
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and let me know in the comments if you share any similar thoughts
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or feelings or if you have any questions feel free to ask and I'll see you guys next time.
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Bye!

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Why practice speaking with this video?

This video offers a unique opportunity to engage with authentic American culture and contemporary views on marriage, particularly from the perspective of American girls. By practicing English speaking through this content, you are not only improving your language skills but also gaining insight into societal trends and personal opinions. This connection to real-life context enhances your learning experience and enriches your conversational abilities.

Using a shadowing app, you can effectively mimic the speaker’s intonation, rhythm, and emotion, which are critical elements in grasping fluent English. The discussion around marriage expectations provides a relatable scenario for practicing everyday conversation, and you can develop your own opinions on the topic to enhance your dialogue skills.

Grammar & Expressions in Context

In the video, the speaker uses several key expressions that illustrate various grammatical structures:

  • I would say that most of us don't want to get married at all. - This expression showcases the use of modal verbs, indicating a subjective opinion. It's a useful structure when expressing personal views.
  • If we're gonna spend the rest of our life with one person, it better be someone that we truly want to see every day. - This conditional sentence emphasizes intentions and desires, which is vital for making future plans in English.
  • A lot of American guys don't do any household chores. - The use of 'any' in negative sentences is commonly practiced in everyday English. This phrase can help learners discuss habits and behaviors by employing the correct structure.

By shadowing these expressions, you can develop more natural speech patterns and enhance your English speaking practice.

Common Pronunciation Traps

American English has its fair share of pronunciation challenges. Here are some tricky words and phrases from the video:

  • Exhausting - This word has a silent 'g,' and can often be mispronounced. Ensure you practice the correct pronunciation to articulate your thoughts clearly.
  • Expected - The "x" sound can be tricky in fluent speech. Listen carefully and repeat to master the soft transition from the "k" to "s."
  • Household chores - The connection between the words can lead to blending sounds, which may make it hard to understand. Practice distinctly pronouncing each word as you shadow the speaker.

By working through these pronunciation challenges, you can refine your accent and clarity, making your English speaking practice more effective and enjoyable.

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.

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