Citizenship

 

Citizenship identifies an individual’s national origin. It defines his/her rights and responsibilities to that country (nationality). Most people have only one country of citizenship, but some can have dual nationality. U.S. citizens can be native-born, foreign-born, or naturalized. They owe their allegiance to the United States and are entitled to its protection.

See the graphic below for a visual outline of the general requirements for naturalization. This graphic comes from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website. (uscis.gov)

During the naturalization interview, a USCIS (United States Citizenship and Immigration Services) Officer will ask you questions about your application and background. You will also take an English and civics test unless you qualify for an exemption or waiver. The USCIS provides accommodations for individuals with disabilities. People 50 or older and have lived as a permanent resident (green card holder) in the United States for 20 years are exempt from the English Language Requirement but are still required to take the Civics Test. This is called the “50/20” exception. If you’re 55 or older you only need to have lived as a permanent resident in the USA for 15 years (“55/15” exception) The English test has three components: reading, writing, and speaking. The civics test covers important U.S. history and government topics.

Fisher Hill’s next book will be USA Citizenship for the Spanish Speaker. Until that book comes out, our series English for the Spanish Speaker helps teens and adults learn English and U.S. history and government. This is a four book series. Each book in the series has eight lessons. In Books 1 and 2, the lessons are about every day activities. In Books 3 and 4, four lessons are about every day activities and the other four are about United States history or government. The print in the workbooks is large. The reading level in Book 1 is at the first and second grade level. The books get progressively more difficult. The reading level for Book 4 is at the fourth grade reading level. Each lesson begins with a vocabulary list, then a conversation, story, activity pages, and finally an answer key. The lessons are bilingual with the word lists, conversations, and stories presented in Spanish and English. The directions for the activity pages are in Spanish but the activities are in English. There are two dictionaries at the back of each workbook: a Spanish dictionary and an English dictionary. Also, at the back, is an English translation of the Spanish directions. There is a CD available for each workbook so the student can listen to the vocabulary lists, conversations and stories in English. This series has been very popular with adult education classes.

                               

Visit our website at www.Fisher-Hill.com to learn more about our series English for the Spanish Speaker.