[Speaking English in Chinese Accent]
Holy cow, that's some bad English right there.
If I would be a first-time flyer on that plane
listening to that English safety demonstration,
I'd be out of that plane within seconds.
Dear friends and followers, welcome back to my channel
and to a very very important video, as a lot of people have asked me:
how important is English if I want to become a pilot?
I'll be talking about the importance,
what exams to expect,
and how to best learn and improve your English skills.
So get out your dictionary and let's get started.
(intro music and some memes about bad English)
This video is brought to you by Cambly:
the app which gives you instant access
to native English speakers over video chat
so you can learn and gain confidence.
Get 15 minutes for free by clicking the link in the description box below.
Okay, first things first:
if you ask me how important English is in aviation
on a scale from zero to ten, my answer is twelve.
Let's rewind the clock a little - back to 1951.
The ICAO recommended to all participating states
that English shall become the international aeronautical radio telephony communications language.
Why?
Because research has shown that the cause of numerous accidents happened due to language barriers
and misunderstandings between pilots and ATC.
And confusion in the cockpit after introducing
standard operating procedures [S.O.P.] primarily in English.
Now sad examples like the two jumbo jets
which crashed into each other on the island of Tenerife
all due to an impatient captain
and misleading clearances by the tower controller,
or the unbelievable accident by Avianca in the 90s
where the plane was so low on fuel, and that pilots were unable to
properly declare a fuel emergency
until running on fumes and falling out of the sky.
Unfortunately, the list is pretty long
of similar language barrier accidents,
but it just shows how
important good communication is in aviation.
And sadly the ICAO first acted 52 years later
by introducing an English proficiency test in 2003.
And the proficiency is scaled in levels one to six.
Now to work and fly within international airspace
the minimum requirement is level four.
Level four is categorized as "Operational;"
five is "Extended" and six is "Expert" or "Native Speaker."
So the native speakers like
the Brits, the Aussies, and the Americans
automatically get proficiency level six
and don't need testing,
except I had to.
Although I have a British passport
I didn't get level six
as I went to a german-speaking school,
but if you have been to an english-speaking school
you fill out the form
and immediately get certified level six, which is for life
and you won't be facing any English test
within your aviation career, so congrats to that!
But all other levels require a written and oral exam.
So what does that look like?
It's going to be a one-on-one with your examiner.
He might play you a tape,
which you have to listen to and later explain
what the conversation was about, or he wants you to
translate a text from your mother tongue
into English or vice versa, and for sure
he will engage you into a conversation
about literally anything.
So be prepared that you at least get level four
and level four then requires to retake the exam
every four years, level five every six years, and as mentioned level six is for life.
Now the other question related
to the importance of English in the aviation industry is
how can I actually learn or improve
my English speaking skills?
Okay, first and foremost
pay attention at your English classes in school
and go pedal to the metal in your exams.
Make your life easier by learning it as early as possible
because once you have a basic understanding
there are many ways of improving your English.
Speak English as often as possible, obviously,
and/or fly to an english-speaking country
for a few months during your summer break.
How did I do it now?
I consider myself very lucky
having an english-speaking mother
who literally refuses to speak German to me.
So my dad who's German took care of that,
but I remember numerous long car rides to England
with Rod Stewart blasting through the stereo
with my mum's finger on the pause button,
pausing the song every 10 seconds,
and I had to repeat what Rod was singing
and translate it into German,
just to get a better understanding of the song and both languages,
so my mind is still cluttered with countless lyrics
of the Beatles, Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra
and many other great artists. Thanks mom.
The same thing with movies: my sister and I were
dangerously addicted to the series "Friends,"
and we always watched with subtitles
so we wouldn't miss a word.
Until now I can still rephrase entire scenes of the show.
And obviously my favorite character is:
[Laugh Track]
"How you doin'?"
[Laugh Track intensifies]
I would recommend that you and your friend
watch a movie together in English with subtitles
and stop the movie from time to time
and each one of you has to
explain to the other what went on in the last scene
in English of course.
By the way,
Don't forget you can use the subtitle function in
all my videos. Use them and practice.
Even more effective,
read English books of your interests and
underline the words you don't understand,
look them up in a dictionary,
and write them down on a notepad
so you can study the words you're having trouble with,
but in the end the most
effective way of learning and improving
your English skills is the direct conversation with someone
who is fluent in English.
And that's where Cambly comes to play.
Cambly is this really cool app or website
where you can get your own personal English tutor
who will help you to improve your English skills
day-by-day via video chat.
Now you can schedule meetings,
the length of the video chat, and with any tutor
who you'd like to chat with and learn from.
You get notified in advance
prior to your appointment,
and you can also have the lesson via the app
on your phone as you're on the go.
And there are some tutors who are specialized in aviation,
which can help you especially with the more technical vocabulary,
which you'll be needing when reading aircraft manuals.
Speaking of manuals, every aircraft manual,
every checklist, weather information, notice
Absolutely anything involving your airplane is in English.
So see how important it is
that you are proficient in that language
so invest in a monthly subscription with Cambly.
Become fluent and excel at your first airline interview.
Yes, any European airline will check your English,
not just orally, but also with a written test
with countless synonyms and grammar exercises
and trust me when I say
they are not easy.
I've seen so many pilots
acing their screening and then
failing the English test.
Wow, they felt so sorry for themselves for not preparing properly.
By the way, the same goes for A.T.C. controllers.
When I prepare for my flights to foreign countries
and the first sentence in the briefing chart reads this, oh boy.
Okay, ATC controllers are going to hate me
for what I'm about to say right now,
but not naming any countries
but guys, you make a ton of money.
Please, do us pilots a favor and
improve your English!
so unprofessional and so embarrassing.
Also if the A.T.C. controller and pilots
speak in their mother tongue,
in my opinion, can be dangerous.
Why you might ask?
the clearance isn't meant for you anyways,
if the controller speaks in a different language?
Yes, that's correct
But let's say you're an approach
and you can anticipate what the other planes
in your vicinity are doing by just closely monitoring their
A.T.C. clearances and T.C.A.S. display,
It's good airmanship and create situational awareness,
which I do not need to point out how important that is.
So let's say a Russian colleague is performing a go-around
ahead of me. Sooner or later the A.T.C. controller will ask
for the reason was and if he replies:
[Russian]
How on earth am I supposed to know
that meant wind shear?
And there are numerous A.T.C. conversations
where the pilots struggled to
understand and reply to their requests.
It's dangerous and
unnecessarily blocks the frequency.
And please don't have the impression:
"I'll learn English once I'm at flight school."
It's way too late then.
The instructor will be throwing
technical phrases out at you and if you can only say:
"Hi, ny name is Joe. Two beers, please."
you'll be failing exams quicker than
you can think.
Faking it until you make it won't work on this one.
So please do yourself a favor
and invest a little money in yourself.
Get the Cambly app and
ace the English language with one of their
tutors. Keep in mind once you're in the cockpit
there's nothing more embarrassing
if you're level of English is
worse than your captain's.
That's it for today.
Definitely check out the Cambly website.
Click the link in the description box below,
so you can try out the app and get the first 15 minutes for free
and thank you very much for your time.
Hit the subscribe button and notification bell
so you won't miss out upcoming videos,
and don't forget: a good pilot is always learning
especially English,
so see you next week.
All the best, your Captain Joe.
[Outro Music]