21 tips for the citizenship interview

1. The officer is watching from the moment you walk in.

   Posture, eye contact, a clear voice. Looking at the floor while you answer reads as insecurity, or as disrespect. Neither helps you.

2. When you don't understand, your voice drops.

   The officer notices before you do. Keep your volume; if you didn't understand, ask for a repeat instead of mumbling.

3. How are you? is not answered with thank you.

   I'm fine, thank you. And you? Basic courtesy, and you're being evaluated from the greeting.

4. A three- or four-second pause is torture for the officer.

   It says you didn't understand, even if you did. Train until you start answering within one second.

5. Don't over-talk.

   Answer the question, complete and short. Nerves make people say more, and every extra word is a chance to get something wrong.

6. If they ask where, don't answer when.

   Listen for the question word: when, where, which, who change the whole answer. Many people answer when they traveled after being asked where.

7. Never guess yes or no.

   If you didn't understand, say Could you repeat that, please? A guessed yes in the N-400 section can cost you far more than one civics question.

8. If you didn't understand, say a full sentence, not just sorry.

   A bare sorry leaves the officer waiting. Sorry, could you say that again? tells them exactly what to do.

1. Vote is not boat.

   The English v is top teeth on the bottom lip. Make it with both lips and the officer hears boat.

2. The h is pronounced.

   House, have, how, who: without air they sound like ouse, ave. It's one of the strongest markers of a Spanish accent.

3. Final consonants exist.

   President, government, right, first. Spanish tends to drop them; in English, losing the t changes the word.

4. Social security number and date of birth.

   The two phrases people trip on most. Practice them until they come out on their own, because the officer uses them in the first minute.

5. Watch your intonation.

   In Spanish we go up at the end to ask. In English, a No that rises at the end sounds like doubt, and a doubtful No on the N-400 invites more questions.

6. Practice your dates in English.

   Date of birth, date you arrived, date of your residency. Nineteen eighty-five, not one thousand nine hundred… Months in English, not Spanish.

1. Your employer asks for a name and an address.

   It isn't a yes or no question. The answer is the company's name and where it is.

2. Date of birth: if you don't recognize this, you're stuck in minute one.

   The N-400 words are few and they repeat. Learn them before the 128 questions.

3. The Have you ever… questions.

   Have you ever been arrested, have you ever failed to file taxes, have you ever claimed to be a U.S. citizen. Listen for the key word after ever and answer truthfully and clearly. Knowing the phrases in advance prevents confusion.

4. Don't say I paid for my green card.

   It sounds like you bought your residency. Say I applied for my green card or I paid the filing fee.

1. You only understand what you already know how to read.

   If you don't recognize a word written, you won't recognize it spoken and fast. Reading out loud first; audio second.

2. Quizzing yourself doesn't work.

   You already know what's coming. The test is someone else asking you, out of order, at their speed. Practice that way.

3. The two traps: too little confidence and too much.

   With too little you freeze when the officer speaks. With too much you feel fine, but the officer sees problems you don't. Both are fixed the same way: mock interviews with someone who evaluates you.

4. Walk in as if you were already a citizen.

   You've worked, you've paid taxes, you meet the requirements. Confidence isn't arrogance: it's saying what you know in a firm voice.

You don't know how many seconds you took, which sound came out wrong, or that a different wording would have lost you. You need someone asking and correcting.