cuffio

ciao planeenglish avrei una domanda per te: vorrei inviare il mio cv a qualche compagnia inglese ma prima di farlo vorrei essere sicuro che il mio inglese sia sufficiente per poter affrontare una selezione con colloquio, esercizi di gruppo etc...
secondo te come posso fare per testare il mio inglese ed avere un'idea se il mio livello è sufficiente oppure no? molti anni fa feci il toefl e twe e presi 605 e 4 rispettivamente, ma non feci il tse infatti a parlare ho più difficoltà. che tu sappia le compagnie aeree inglesi stabiliscono dei requisiti di conoscenza dell'inglese in termini di risultati di qualche certificazione? secondo te quale potrebbe essere un punteggio sufficiente?

ciao!

planeenglish

Dear Cuffio,
Firstly, I am happy you wrote. I appreciate the question, really. I don't know off-hand what proficiency airlines require of foreign pilots. I have posed this question to some colleagues and will let you know as soon as possible, perhaps some people on this forum could answer?

As far as testing your proficiency, the TOEFL taken "molti anni fa" doesn't really give you a good indication of your knowledge today. Studies show that individuals lose, and acquire, language over the years due to the exposure they have had. This means if you've practiced your English language skills or not.

Sitting an aviation English proficiency exam can tell you your proficiency in an aviation context. There are a few on the market. You would need to have your writing tested also. All but one tests your writing skills. Having this certificate can give a clear indication to future employers. Seeing that ICAO has established this new rating scale according to aviation context most all airlines already know about it and will relate to it. As to what "punteggio" or level they would require is up to them. ICAO and JAA/EASA have established level four to be operational. I think to be able to communicate effectively in an interview of this type you would have to be at the higher end of that band. (At least B2- Vantage; see Common European Framework of Reference for Languages)

I have prepared pilots for interviews (and actually have performed interviews for various airlines using the same techniques) using role playing methods used by most airlines. The objective is to get you ready psychologically and linguistically in one dose.

I use the book titled "Ace The Technical Pilot Interview" by Gary Bristow. (ISBN: 0-07-139609-8) This prepares you linguistically and technically. The aim here is that you already know the technical aspect, just learn the proficient way of relaying that information.

A TOEFL score of 550 should be about a CFE B2. It is an academic test though and therefore not adequate for technical answers in aviation. An aviation English specialist can help in diagnostic and proficiency testing for this task at hand.

I hope I have been of some help. Like I wrote above, I will let you know about entrance requirements for various airlines.

Kind regards,
PE

ricky-godf

Ciao Cuffio,

io lavoro per una compagnia inglese, e per quanto mi risulta le compagnie non valutano il tuo Inglese sulla base di corsi svolti o punteggi, ma semplicemente sul fatto che tu sia capace di sostenere un colloquio sia tecnico che attitudinale senza avere difficoltà di comprensione e/o espressione.
Chiaramente se ti trovassi costretto a chiedere molte volte di ripetere la stessa domanda o magari a non capirla proprio la cosa sarebbe alquanto imbarazzante.
Specialmente in UK ci sono una moltitudine di piloti stranieri, quindi per quanto riguada il tuo accento non farti troppi problemi, gli stessi inglesi parlano con accenti diversi secondo la zona di provenienza... e credimi che anche per loro è spesso più facile capire un italiano che uno scozzese.

Saluti
Ricky

planeenglish

Hello Cuffio,

Sorry for the wait,

I have only heard back on ryannair. They have requirements for ELP for cabin crew as fluent both speaking and orally. Whereas, for pilots "Our Requirements: Ideally you should have a JAR or EU licence and you must speak fluent English."

BA and Easyjet have yet to reply and there is nothing written on their sites and no one I've talked to says differently.

Easyjet requires you have 500 hours in a multi lingual crew. If I understood correctly. Is this information correct someone out there?

Thanks,
PE

planeenglish

Well, cuffio, here is the reply from BA:

On the site which they refer I found this:


How useful are language skills?

Language skills are always an asset, particularly in areas involving direct contact with our customers. They are probably most useful within Cabin Services.

Pilots


Language Skills

Spoken and written fluency in English
Clear diction

Hope this helps,
PE