172driver wrote:
I doubt many of them have level 6
I was a passenger on an AF flight yesterday where the Captain had a hard time doing a passenger address in English… Only level 4 is required…
Aviathor wrote:
Same thing in France – or so I hear. And I doubt even @Peter would not get Level 6 in France. I think it would be extremely interesting to have someone like @Bordeaux_jim or @Jojo sit the French ELP exam just for the heck of it and see if they manage to get Level 6.
Already done. Level 6 French (VFR) given based on an interview with the lady who issues the licences in Bordeaux.
Level 6 English (VFR) obtained following a test.
So I have to pass an official test to prove I can speak my native language, but not my second language… Go figure, as they say.
Well, like @Bordeaux_Jim, I had to sit the English test to prove I’m worthy of a Level 6. Just scraped through…
And having done all my flight training entirely in France, ze Frenchies had no choice but to give me a Level 6 in French… voili voilou!
Jojo wrote:
And having done all my flight training entirely in France, ze Frenchies had no choice but to give me a Level 6 in French… voili voilou!
Well, I had done all my PPL training (theory & practical) in France, but after my exam flight, instead of the eagerly awaited licence I got a letter in the mail that said they couldn’t give me French LP because my passport wasn’t French. Go figure.
Bordeaux_Jim wrote:
Level 6 French (VFR) given based on an interview with the lady who issues the licences in Bordeaux.Level 6 English (VFR) obtained following a test.
The funny thing is that with an English LP entered in your licence, you don’t even need French LP in order to use French on the radio according to FCL.055. So the interview with the lady was strictly only worthwile for the time until you had English LP entered into your PPL. But I agree, the French seem to see this matter differently on some occasions.
The responsible DSAC was Nord-Est (Strasbourg).
Bordeaux_Jim wrote:
Level 6 English (VFR) obtained following a test.
Fortunately I managed to get a 6 on the VFR, but the IFR had voices with impossible accents on poor HF transmission. I just don’t see the value of conducting the test in this way.
I work with Indians and Chinese (in addition to Frenchmen and Scotsmen) so I do have quite a bit of exposure to accents (over the phone), but I still could not understand several of the samples that were in the test.
I also got Level 5 and I use English on daily basis both written and spoken. However, I wouldn’t call my English perfect (it’s far from there and there’s always space for improvement, especially in vocabular) although it seems that I could get L6.
You would easily get Level 6, Emir, just on your knowledge of idiomatic English
One thing which this business highlights is the high incidence of really poor ELP among ATCOs… The whole profession, in “southern” Europe (that includes France) seems to be exempted from it. You need to hear just one case (of many) of illegible ATIS to realise that not only did that person not speak English but also many others are covering up for him.
Rwy20 wrote:
The funny thing is that with an English LP entered in your licence, you don’t even need French LP in order to use French on the radio according to FCL.055.
According to FCL.055, you don’t need French to fly (exercise privileges of your licence) in case you have ELP. It says nothing about what you can or cannot say on a radio. That would be a telecom matter anyway.
