The White House, just like any other office, is full of American stories that started abroad, as this White House video clip proves. To learn more and to find out about other American stories of immigration visit WhiteHouse.Gov/Immigration.
Self-study activity:
No listening task today. Watch the video over and over until you get familiar with the accent of the White House staff in it and you kind of fully understand everything that is being said. You can find, as usual, the transcript below, and if you come across a vocabulary item difficult to understand you can easily look it up by double clicking on it.
You can also try the technique of shadow reading to try and improve your pronunciation. There are seventeen short very segments in the video. Choose one and try to read the transcript at the same speed as the person who is talking. That way you will be working on the pronunciation of individual words, speed of delivery and, most importantly, accent.
Monika (Poland):
We have all these stories, and we have this interwoven experience of having come here for a common purpose, which is to make a better life. And from that, you know, we can aspire to so much as people, as immigrants, as children of immigrants, to achieve really amazing things.
Todd (Korea):
America has this incredible power to bring people to its shores, to help build a brighter future for our country.
Namrata (India):
I think what's at stake here is that we need to make sure that we are a place where our actions continue to match our ideals and we continue to be a place of opportunity and hope for the rest of the world.
Leandro (Dominican Republic):
People still risk their lives to come here. And why is that? Because obviously they have a passion for something and really believe that they can still fulfill those dreams here.
Tina (China):
Our own competitiveness, our strength as a nation, our ability to have new innovation, be at the cutting edge and leading the world, is at stake as well, because the talent that comes into the United States and the drive and the ambition to build new things and build new companies and find new technologies also comes with immigrants.
Beth (Philippines):
We're a nation of immigrants, and I'm a perfect example of that.
Nancy (Argentina):
We're a nation of immigrants, and immigrants lend to the richness of our life here.
Gautam (India):
These are the stories of real people, of real families, of husbands and wives and kids who all want to be together in one country.
Araz (Iran):
My parents literally left everything behind in Iran. And when we came here, we started from scratch.
Nadeem (Pakistan):
Initially, my father, when he moved to this country, he came with only $500 in his pocket and, you know, a family.
Namrata:
Dad came to the United States first to start looking for some jobs. He's a doctor.
Monika:
Slowly and surely, we learned English, mostly through "Sesame Street." And we began to make friends and do really well.
Toniann (Italy):
This country was built on dreams with people trying to better themselves, and it seems to be a universal thought, that people come here to do things that they never thought they could do anywhere else.
Matias (Argentina):
I'm very thankful for the opportunity that this country has provided me and the opportunity for my children.
Fernando (Mexico):
We are a nation of immigrants. We bring together different ideas, different cultures, different races.
David (Portugal):
So, as we look forward, when you think about what's at stake for immigration reform, it's a continuation of what we've always been: both a nation of laws and nation of immigrants.
Gautam:
Although we all came from different places, we're sort of bound up in some very shared goals,
and we all want the same kind of future for our kids, who are all going to be Americans who come after us.
