Certain accents are extra hard for English speakers to understand, with French at the top of the list
Yep. Sometimes I find the ATIS in English harder to understand than in French.
Welsh accent and speaking Welsh aren’t the same thing at all. Anyone from rural Wales has a very noticeable Welsh accent even if they don’t speak a word of the language. But heaven help a non-native (and most natives come to that) with a strong Glasgow or Newcastle accent.
greg_mp wrote:
I have been told that some (french) people get their ELP6 but not from Orly’s office of DGAC recently. May be you can contact James Emery (Lingaero), he flies all around France for ELP tests and lessons, he may give you some more clue about the possibility to get ELP6.
Good to news that James can do IFR ELP6 now, I think that useful info should be updated here?
This document from Feb2022 still show Orly as the only center
I did IFR ELP6 two year ago in the miserable testing center in Orly, it took tow attempts
I have CAA FRTOL and UK IR and had to re-sit that test to get IFR Level 6 !
strong Glasgow or Newcastle accent
And it’s not only the accent, it’s complete pronunciation, different vocals… reminds me often to Croatian islands 
johnh wrote:
Welsh accent and speaking Welsh aren’t the same thing at all. Anyone from rural Wales has a very noticeable Welsh accent even if they don’t speak a word of the language.
Thanks John I probably should have been clearer between ‘person from Wales’ and ‘Welsh-speaking’
Peter wrote:
AFAIK, in certain situations, an ELP6 signoff is permanent, whereas an ELP4 signoff lasts a year, or some such.
xLP6 signoffs are always permanent. (There is possibly some provision for revocation, but nothing that happens automatically.)
xLP5 signoffs are valid for 6 years, while xLP4 signoffs are valid for 4 years.
Capitaine wrote:
Even the BBC has moved away from Received Pronunciation.
Oh, dear me. What’s the world coming to, I ask?
MedEwok wrote:
May I inquire which facility you used
It’s an Austrian facility, examiner was Theo Voss. After the actual exam the recording is passed over to a language professional for another set of marks. I can pass the contact details if interested.
The exam is in fact about aviation english, so accent should not count, but, you know, in the end it does. Funny is that I had to keep in mind that it’s “tri” for 3 and “tausand” for thousand and so on, ah “niner” of course. That’s a bit annoying in the interview, I had to correct myself sometimes for that. Important about the exam was also the set of questions. Best is to give a correct answer, if not sure, however, you can ask to listen to the question once again. But only once in total over all questions if you want to have a 6. Some of the questions weren’t easy to understand, there was sound in the background, there were different accents that you don’t know in advance, and you don’t even know what comes next, whether it’s an ATIS or a picture description with a specific question what you should describe from the picture. So it’s quite on the spot. I just talked my head off ;-) until Theo told me that was enough, looks like it was a good strategy.
At the facility where I got my ELP6 (I believe they use Eurocontrol testing standards), the difference between an ELP5 and an ELP6 (what is specifically tested to give you an ELP6) is not only “native level equivalent” language level, but the capacity to adapt one’s speech to the level of the person one is speaking to.
I got ELP6, but the native English speaker person (from India) just before/after me got ELP5. Specifically because she didn’t show the ability to use alternative, simpler, words to express herself when the examiners faked that they didn’t understand her idiomatic expressions. While actually, I was rather oblivious to the fact that one of them was faking it and upon her questioning, I switched to very basic simple vocabulary, while internally (but not showing it) registering shock that she could be ELP6 examiner but not understand “average advanced” words. I cottoned on that she must have been faking it only later ;→
lionel wrote:
the difference between an ELP5 and an ELP6 (what is specifically tested to give you an ELP6) is not only “native level equivalent” language level, but the capacity to adapt one’s speech to the level of the person one is speaking to.
Did they tell you about this before the exam? Because if not, it would quite unfair and a very good way to trick candidates as most would expect that Level 6 requires having rich/advanced vocabulary…
WingsWaterAndWheels wrote:
Because if not, it would quite unfair and a very good way to trick candidates as most would expect that Level 6 requires having rich/advanced vocabulary
I was told about this idiomatic when preparing for IFR ELP6
There are millions of way to trick one down, like ‘request 220 to avoid’ while (the fat) examiner wanted ‘request 220 to avoid cumulonimbus cloud’, on 2nd attempt, I asked another examiner (who looked like ex-captain) if the above shortcut matter? he said ‘to avoid’ is OK
