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One browse over published speeches, YouTube caption videos, studio reference recordings, and digital presenters. Twenty-five clips per page. Unpublished and unlabelled rows stay out.
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- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
She said, “They never had any kind of schooling. So, they don’t know how to write.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
They don’t know how to read. They don’t know letter sounds.”
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
Often, family members with better English skills will fill out the N-400 form for them. But they would be unable to answer the interview questions themselves.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
Possible changes to the naturalization interview would make civics questions multiple choice to “reflect current best practices in test design,” USCIS said in a document
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
explaining the update to the test. Schmelzer said that would make the test harder for immigrants who may not have a great understanding of American history or English.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
For now, students memorize 100 civics questions. Ten of the questions will be asked on the day of the interview and applicants must answer six correctly to pass.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
One question is “Name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s.” Currently, people just need to memorize one war fought during that 100-year period.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
But a multiple-choice test would require knowledge of four wars presented as answer choices and know which one was fought in the 1800s.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
“You're forcing them to expand their memorization,” Schmelzer said. Another proposed change would add a speaking test to assess English ability.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
The officer would present three photos and the interviewee would have to describe what is happening in the pictures.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
Currently, English knowledge is assessed through questions from the N-400 and other small-talk questions.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
The new interview changes are currently being tested in several locations around the country. USCIS will hear feedback about the tests before the end of the year.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
Quinn and Schmelzer said the test should be updated. Just one civics question is related to a female American historical figure, Schmelzer said.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
But Quinn questions what is to be gained by making changes to the test to make it harder. People in her class “put their souls” into becoming citizens.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
“How much more do we need to ask them to do?” she said.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
John Yepow is another of Quinn’s students who along with his wife, recently became a U.S. citizen.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
Yepow came from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He lived in Zambia for 10 years before moving to the United States.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
Yepow, who works as a medication technician, said he follows American politics closely.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
He calls himself a lifelong learner and has even taken online classes about American history.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
“I want to learn and make sure I’m integrated into American society,” he said. Yepow added: “This is the land of opportunity
- Public domaingeneral-american
Citizenship Test Changes Might Require Better English Skills
We are dreaming big." He said he will make sure to take advantage of every opportunity.
- Reference recordingrp
Climate experts have raised concerns about the rising temperatures recorded las…
Climate experts have raised concerns about the rising temperatures recorded last summer.
- Reference recordingrp
comfortable
comfortable
- Public domaingeneral-american
Common Adverbs in Conversation: Amplifiers, Downtoners
From VOA Learning English, this is Everyday Grammar. Imagine you are at a business meeting.
- Public domaingeneral-american
Common Adverbs in Conversation: Amplifiers, Downtoners
You have just presented a plan to your business partners. They want to give suggestions for how to make your plan better.
Source badges: Public domain · Creator video · Digital presenter · Reference recording. Literary passages are public domain. Studio notes are not spoken in the audio.