Originally Posted by
Piltdown Man
The radio bit will come with practice. You will that a standard procedure is use for most calls - Who you are, where you are what you want. You will them be told how to get what you want. And if they speak too fast, you are ask in plain language "Please speak slower" and they will.
The two words that were like magic to me when I was a student pilot: say again.
Every time ATC gave me way more information than I could process, those two words made them condense it into something far more concise and understandable.