Archive for the ‘citizenship questions’ Category

Free Citizenship CD, Everyone?

In 2009, it costs at least:

  • $695 to file the citizenship application – form N-400
  • $150 to have someone help you fill out the form and submit to the USCIS
  • $50 just to talk an immigration lawyer for the first time
  • $1,500 if you decide to hire the lawyer to help with your case
  • If you fail your citizenship test, it will cost you even more in time, appeal fees, application fees, and lawyer fees. Total cost would be a few thousand dollars more.

So, after paying all that, you’re still not a US citizenship yet! Time to study! You must take the test and pass, or you will lose all the money!

You get what you pay for. Make sure you get the best! Citizenship Coach's #1 selling citizenship CD in America!

You get what you pay for. Make sure you get the best! Citizenship Coach's #1 selling citizenship CD in America!

You will get a free CD from the USCIS (when you’re finger-printed.) But it is for “experts” in English – the material is read very fast; it’s hard for ESL audience to hear each word… If you don’t understand what’s in that CD, don’t worry, lots of immigrants don’t understand a word from that CD either. People said it well: “Nothing is free in America.”

If English is not your mother tongue, you need help. Visit Citizenship Coach website (www.CitizenshipCoach.com) and get their #1 best selling CD in the USA (study guides included in the package.) It will cost you a few dollars more, but the quality is so much better to help you pass your citizenship interview.

You get what you paid for. Don’t try to save just a few dollars. Make sure you buy from the experts you can trust at Citizenship Coach. By the way, you can study online, too, with SurePass Citizenship Test Online. Study anytime, at the comfort of your home.

Why Immigrants Fail the New Citizenship Interview

The way they study is good for the WRITTEN test, but bad for the ORAL test.

If English is your mother tongue, then how your learn may not matter. However, for ESL students, the way they learn does affect the result. When they learn from books or a DVD, they are more likely to succeed in written tests. However, the citizenship interview is an oral test, conducted face-to-face, meaning that the students don’t see the questions at all. The ability to listen to a question, understand it, and answer it correctly — all without looking at the printed questions — is crucial. Citizenship Coach says being not ready for an oral test is the #1 reason why immigrants fail their citizenship interviews.

So, what to avoid? Which is the right way to learn?

You must avoid studying for the citizenship interview from just books or DVDs… or other ways in which you can see the questions and answers. Of course, you must see the questions first. But after that, you should study one-on-one with a friend or a teacher, or online classes with video from SurePass Citizenship Test Online (if you can afford it – $9 to 20/month – then this is the best way. See why below.)

Here are some great methods:

  • Study with a friend: Ask you friend who speaks English well to ask you the questions, one by one, randomly, and you try to answer without looking at the questions. The goal is to put mind in that interview environment as much as possible so you can get ready mentally.
  • Study in Class with a teacher: If you can drive to a local class, your teacher will train you to listen and answer the questions.
SurePass_screenshot

Study in the comfort of your home, online. SurePass helps immigrants get ready for the citizenship interview via the internet.

  • Study online with SurePass Citizenship Test Online: This is the better option since it combines the 2 method I’ve just mentioned above. Created by Citizenship Teachers for ESL citizenship students like you. You can study at home or anywhere with internet access. Everybody is busy. Study with SurePass, you don’t have to drive to a class every week, or ask for help from your friends.

SurePass has one video for each question. So, if you don’t have a friend to ask you the questions, you can play the question videos and learn to listen to the interviewer, just like a real interview with a USCIS officer. If you don’t know how to answer, or want to know how a word is pronounced, you can play the answer video and it will show you exactly word by word.

Join the best citizenship test online class today at www.CitizenshipCoach.com

New Citizenship Test: How To Study Effectively

Most people think the new citizenship test is harder than the old one, especially those who have limited English. As a citizenship teacher, I believe you need a new way to learn for the new citizenship questions. Let’s take a look at some traditional ways:

  1. Study with Books: This is probably the most boring way to learn today. Imagine reading through a 200-page book! You can do that if you love to read and plan to be a scholar after your citizenship test. Because the test is oral — you won’t see the questions, you can only listen — make sure you understand the questions just by listening to them, which means you have to find a partner who helps read the questions to you. Less and less people are actually learning with books these days.
    The best thing about Books: Lots of information, very well organized.
    Cost: $15-$35 (you can buy used books for less, but they may have old information)
  2. Study with CDs: This is better than studying with a book. Of course, if you can listen to the CD while reading a study guide, then that’s even better. A lot of people choose this option if their English skill is above average.
    The best thing about CDs: You can listen to the audio CD almost anywhere today.
    Cost: $15-$40 -cheaper CDs are probably don’t have true voice – (Read: How to choose the best Citizenship CD)
  3. Study with DVDs: Ah-ha! This is getting a little more interesting. You see visual information, which helps you remember the lessons faster and longer. However, when it comes to doing practice test, you can do a very limited number of tests that were originally created for the DVD. This means that you will not be fully prepare for the real test. Be aware also that most DVDs being sold the market (especially used one) have outdated/old information. Production of DVD tends to be expensive, therefore producers often recycle old content and “slap” a new cover design on the DVD. So, make sure you see previews of the DVDs before you buy. DVD is the most expensive way to learn.
    The best thing about DVDs: You get to see a real person teaching you the lessons and asking the questions, just like in a real interview.
    Cost: $15-$60 (cheaper DVDs are not worth buying)
  4. Study in Class, with an instructor: If you’re willing to drive to a formal class every week and study with a citizenship instructor like me, then this is the best option for you.
    The best thing about Class: Your teachers and classmate can conduct mock-interviews, in which they ask the questions and you answer – Just like in a real interview.
    Cost: $FREE-$90 (4-week to 3-month course)
  5. SurePass - Online Citizenship Test Class

    SurePass - Online Citizenship Test Class

    Study with SurePass – Online Citizenship Test:  THE NEW WAY. This is by far the best option for everyone. It combines the best of all 4 options listed above.

    • Has updated information, organized in small lessons for easy study
    • You can use SurePass anywhere (at home, work, library, in the backyard) and anytime (early morning, in bed, on a couch with a coffee in hand!) No need to drive to class.

      Click the button to get a free trial of this online citizenship test class. You'll like it.

      Click the button to get a free trial of this online citizenship test class. You'll like it.

    • It’s like studying with a friend. Study with real people. Practice test with real people. Just like in a real interview. You will be completely ready for your real test. There will be less surprises.
    • SurePass has English Vocabulary, Test History, Bookmark questions, tips and tricks for each question, lessons and questions in Spanish, Chinese, or other languages, and more.
    • Unlimited random tests – practice as much as you want with different tests all the time.
    • Cost much less! Cost: $19.99/month or cheaper

Everybody prefers studying in a different way. No matter what it is, the best studying method is one that prepares you in the most realistic way – it should make you feel like you’re in a real citizenship test so that there will be less or no surprises for you when you take the real test. Considering all aspects, SurePass is by far the best way to study for the new citizenship test the web has to offer.

SurePass is available online at  www.citizenshipcoach.com, your local libraries, or Citizenship Coach partners.

How to Choose the Best Citizenship CD

Unless you like the US citizenship test so much, you wan to take it many times (hahaha!) it’s worth it to spend some extra time (and even money) to find the best citizenship test CD that really helps you with your study.

If you do a Google search for a citizenship CD, you will see many websites and advertises offering CDs of all kinds. Some are good, some are very bad and should be avoided. So, how do you know which one to buy from? Which CD is best for you (and your pocket)?

Here are some tips to consider when shopping for a great Citizenship Test CD - one that helps instead of hurts you! They’re simple:

  1. Make sure you listen to audio samples. As far as I know (at the moment of writing this blog post) there are only 3 companies that offer free samples (2 are good, one is very bad and should be avoided.)
  2. Make sure the samples come from different parts of the CD. You want the whole CD is high quality, not just a small portion. Buy the CD that has many samples.
  3. This is the most important tip - Make sure the audio is read by a natural human voice. As mentioned, some people try to make quick moneys by selling CDs that are read by computers. While you’re listening, ask yourself this question: “Does it sound like a real person speaking?” Most CDs that are sold without free samples are read by computers. Stay far, far away. (Some are sold for cheap on eBay.) You’d want to listen to a CD that’s read by a professional voice-over artist, which has clearer voice and correct pronunciation for each and every word.
  4. Read reviews from buyers: The more reviews, the better. Buy the one with the most positive reviews. CDs that have reviews from citizenship teachers or immigration lawyers are best. Know what they like or don’t like about the CD, then make your own decision.
Citizenship CD produced by Citizenship Coach

Citizenship CD produced by Citizenship Coach has study guide included for just $30. If you can afford it, this is a great package.

So again, it’s true that you get what you pay for. Good CDs are sold for about $15-$40. Some bad CDs we see are being sold for $8-$25 (with extra stuff that you may not need.) So, shop around! Have fun studying for your citizenship test, and good luck!

Top 5 Hardest Citizenship Questions

 

Citizenship Test audio CD for the new citizenship test

Citizenship Test audio CD for the new citizenship test

According to surveys conducted by Citizenship Coach – the premier online citizenship test resource - below are the top 5 questions that citizenship candidates have trouble answering correctly:

5. There were 13 original states. Name three.
Reason: They have problems remembering the names of all the 13 original states.
Tips: Just try to remember the easiest answers: North Carolina, South Carolina, New York

4. When was the Declaration of Independence adopted?
Reason: Mistaken this question with “When was the Constitution written?”
(Silly) Tips: “Adopted” start with “A”, as in “Act now!”. Therefore it happens within a day (July 4, 1776) On the other hand, “Written” start with “W” as in “Wait!”. Therefore it happens in a year (1787). This tip sounds silly, but it helps.

3. Who is the Governor of your state? or Name your US Representative.
Reason: Lack of information, or study outdated information
Tips: Make sure to go to www.citizenshipcoach.com and click on the “Resources” tab, then scroll down and select your state to get the correct answer. This web page also gives you a link to go search for your Representative name by zip code.

2. We elect a U.S. Senator for how many years? or We elect a U.S. Representative for how many years?
Reason: Mistaking Senator for Representative and vs.
(Silly) Tips: Remember this: the person with the shorter title serves longer – I know, it’s silly… The word “Senator” is shorter than the word “Representative”. So, Senators serve 6 years and Representatives serve only 2 years before they have to face election again.

1. Who was President during World War I? Who was President during the Great Depression and World War II?
Reason: Foreigners, especially those who come from Asia, have problems remembering American/European names.
(Silly) Tips: Woodrow Wilson can be remembered as “WWi” or “WW1″ (turn “i” into “1″)

There you have them – the 5 most often incorrectly answered questions on the new citizenship test. Did we say those tips are “silly”? Each person has a different way to remember something. You can try them out to see if they work for you!


OLD POST:

From surveys in classrooms, we have come up with a list of the top 5 hardest citizenship test questions that many people have problems remembering the answers for. We will let you know which ones they are, but before doing that, we want to hear from you! By the way, we’re only talking about the new/revised/updated naturalization exam. Just come to our website to get the newest citizenship questions. To tell us yours choices, just post a reply below.

We’ll announce the “Top 5 Hardest Citizenship Test Questions”, according to Citizenship Coach’s audience in the near future! See if your picks of questions are the same as those we have in our secret list! You’ll be surprised!