GENERAL ENGLISH – GROWING A MUSTACHE

General English represents around 70% of aviation English. So, it can be helpful to listen to some general English once in a while. This American English video is not that tough for ICAO level 5 or SLP 3333 speakers but it is a bit fast and full of slang. Therefore, it could be difficult to understand. However, and as it is funny, it is worth watching:

TRANSCRIPT AND EXPLANATIONS:

VOICE:
Pete is a mustache virgin, but lately he has been second-guessing his choices.
Pete n’a pas de moustache, mais dernièrement, il a remis ses choix en question.
THE BOSS:
We are still on for duck hunting?
Ça tient toujours pour la chasse au canard?
WAYNE:
That is the plan, Boss Man.
Absolument, chef.
BOSS:
Hit me back, stache attack.
Rappelle-moi, moustache-attaque. (stache attack, between Mars-attack and stache salute. Stache salute signifie un respect que les sans-moustaches portent aux moustachus)
PETE:
I like shooting ducks.
Cela me plaît de tirer sur des canards.
THE BOSS:
I’m not sure you’re cut out for it.
Je ne suis pas certain que tu sois taillé pour cela.
VOICE:
I know what you’re thinking, Pete – The stached get all the breaks.
Je sais à quoi tu penses, Pete: les moustachus ont tous les avantages.
But one does not move to stached one on a whim.
Mais on ne passe pas à la moustache sur un coup de tête.
You wanna be the lord of the lip, you do it right or you don’t do it at all.
Tu veux être le seigneur de la lèvre, tu t’y prends correctement, sinon ne fais rien.
Are we clear? Good, man. Now take these simple nuggets of wisdom as gospel:
Est-ce clair? Bien! Maintenant, considère ces pures pépites de sagesse comme parole d’évangile:
First things first. You can’t just grow a mustache.
Commençons par le début. Tu ne sais tout simplement pas comment te laisser pousser la moustache.
Waiting for it to get to the good looking stage takes way too long.
Attendre que cela ait bonne allure prends beaucoup trop de temps.
And it is a tad creepy in its incubation phase. Best to grow out a beard first.
Et puis, elle a un peu de quoi faire peur (a tad: un peu) dans sa phase d’incubation. Mieux vaut d’abord se laisser pousser la barbe.
Hold back the mustache for its official debut.
Ne te presse pas pour l’apparition officielle de ta moustache.
Quick side rule:
Petite règle en apparté:
It’ll be pretty clear if you have the chops for facial hair during the beard stage.
Ce sera bien net si tu des favoris lorsque tu porteras la barbe.
If you look like a Yeti with a hormone disorder, you may want to consider a different way to get in touch with your manhood.
Si tu as l’air d’un yéti avec des troubles hormonaux, il est peut-être préférable que tu reconsidères ta façon d’aborder ta virilité.
Once your little friend has fully matured, you may not immediately recognize yourself in the mirror.
Il se peut que tu ne te reconnaisses pas dans la glace lorsque ton compagnon pileux sera arrivé à maturation.
That’s because this baby is more than just hair. It’s attitude.
C’est parceque cette merveille est plus qu’une chevelure. C’est une attitude.
Embrace that.
Comprends bien cela.
Care to live the life of a big game hunter?
Envie de mener la vie d’un chasseur de gros gibier?
Wanna ride your new hog into the sunset?
Envie de rouler sur ta nouvelle Harley Davidson au crépuscule?
Wanna sell antique cars to Italian businessmen?
Envie de vendre des voitures anciennes à des hommes d’affaire italiens?
Those bristles under your nose open the door to a lifestyle the stacheless could never pull off.
Ces poils sous ton nez ouvrent la porte sur un mode de vie que les sans moustaches ne pourraient pas imaginer.
Now, Pete, you may be eager to show off your new accessory.
Maintenant, Pete, il se peut que tu brûles d’envie d’épater la gallerie avec ton complice.
Better to let your new look That’s because this baby.
Mieux vaut laisser ton nouveau look parler de lui-même.
THE BOSS
Nice duds, Tex! How about you come visit my ranch this weekend?
Chouettes fringues, Texan! Et si tu passais à mon ranch ce weekend? (a Tex is a tall man, often attractive, a little weird with a sense of humor and usually good at guitar)(attention: duds, ce sont aussi des UXO, unexploded device or munition, aussi toute personne qui a quelquechose qui cloche et enfin tout appareil qui ne fonctionne pas correctement)
WAYNE
I like horses.
J’aime les chevaux.
THE BOSS
Good for you, Wayne… Good for you.
Tant mieux pour toi, Wayne… Tant mieux pour toi.
KENNY
The stache has spoken. Until next time, enjoy being a man who gets the tough things done.
La moustache a parlé. Jusqu’à la prochaine occasion, réjouis-toi de faire partie des durs.

You can watch this video and subscribe to The Guy’s Manual

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ATC SAVED HYPOXIC PILOT

This Dallas Fort Worth air traffic controller well deserved her NATCA award two years ago. Had she not responded quickly, the pilot would have passed out on board his Piaggio P180 Avanti (registration N501PM, callsign shortened into N1PM) and could even have passed away. Another pilot was alerted by slurring in the pilot’s speech. Video:

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LANGUAGE CRITICAL TO AVIATION SAFETY

cours anglais aviation Toni Giacoia FCL .055 OACI en ligne à distance

Cours d’anglais aéronautique sur FCL ANGLAIS

The 5th ICAO Journal dates back to August 2013, and there is a chapter on Language Proficiency Requirements (LPR) in it. The Journal reviews ICAO’s LPRs and other recent initiatives developed, and reported during a technical seminar to support language proficiency in March 2013, and particularly English language testing among Member States.

All the stakeholders were gathered at the seminar. Those who implement the safety-critical language provisions as mandated by Assembly Resolution A32-16 in 1998, and embodied in Annexes 1, 6, 10 and 11, as well as Doc 4444 — PANS-ATM have their work cut out for them!

According to ICAO Convention, Annex 10, Vol.2, « If a pilot, and an air traffic controller don’t speak a common language, the default language is English. Additionally, the flight crew establishes the language to be used. »

The seminar presented an ICAO speech sample training aid. This tool provides examples of ICAO levels 3, 4 & 5. There was a discrepancy among the various ratings given to samples in a workshop. I know that the juries throughout the world have done some good work. However, candidates have already reported differences between juries within a fortnight. The ratings can vary up to almost two ICAO levels. Rating is difficult, and setting a test is difficult as well.

We know now from the journal that EUROCONTROL is developing a Level 6 examination and that EASA (European Aviation Safety Agency) might establish a validity period of 9 years for Level 6.

Another initiative is the launch of a new AELTS (Aviation English Language Test Service) website at https://www.icao.int/safety/OPS/OPS-Tools/Pages/AELTS.aspx .

The LPR seminar report is available here:

ICAO JOURNAL 2013 LPR

Further information:

FEATURES AND BENEFITS OF ICAO’S AVIATION ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEST SERVICE (AELTS)

Manual on the Implementation of ICAO Language Proficiency Requirements

Latest news: The MCQ (Multiple Choice Questions) on the aeronautical documents test might be given up in 2014. Therefore, the FCL .055 D might be deleted. The FCL .055 tests VFR and IFR only would be left unchanged ie without the 15-minute MCQ test.

Thanks to Thierry Hermas – English teacher at the French Air Force Academy (FAFA) – who passed the documents on.

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PASSENGERS DID BELIEVE THEIR AIRCRAFT WOULD CRASH

 

Scary flight onboard British Airways BA 0206 – It happened over the Atlantic Ocean at 35,000 feet on Friday January 13, 2012 at 03.00 AM.

The passengers were given the scare of their lives by an emergency message which said that the aircraft was about to crash into the ocean, and that they have to brace themselves for impact. It just was not true, as the message was pre-taped, and was sent-out by mistake. The flight attendants dashed into the cabin to calm down the panic surging. Then, an announcement added that such warnings – if re-iterated – should be diregarded.

British Airways has apologized to the people who were onboard BA 0206 for this incident. Watch the video:

 

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FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT FALLOUT

Firefighters, as well as military personnel might be involved in a CRO (Crisis Response Operation – WARNING as this acronym has many other meanings in the military).

To whom it may concern, a short vocabulary review could be useful in case of (let’s hope you won’t deal with it) either natural disasters or a nuclear powerplant accident.

For instance:

  • « Fallout » is used in the headline above, and it means « consequences » but it also means « fallout » like in « radioactive/radiological fallout » (retombees radioactives/radiologiques)
  • NRBC (Nuclear, Radiological, Biological, and Chemical) or CBRN (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear)
  • Meltdown scenario = scenario de fusion du coeur du reacteur
  • Plume of smoke = Panache de fumee
  • Tidal wave, tsunami = Tsunami
  • Earthquake, quake = Tremblement de terre
  • Tremor = Secousse, replique
  • Shake, shaking = Secousse
  • Mud slide (prononcez [meud slaïd])/Land slide = Coulee de boue/Glissement de terrain
  • Flood/Flooding (prononcez [fleud] ou [fleuding]) = innondation
  • Fire/Arson = Incendie/Incendie criminel

…and so on. Watch, and listen carefully to this PBS News-Hour video:

  

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