Interesting how much of the "secret" pilot slang is readily understandable to any native English speaker, perhaps largely thanks to film and TV. But this must be the origin of the now commonly used phrase "touch and go", as in "It was a bit touch and go, but everything was OK in the end", meaning "there was a definite potential for things to go disastrously wrong, but..." It's good to learn stuff! 🎓😊
I am not a native but these expressions are eerily similar to idioms that have basis in its historic use (i.e. etymology of the idioms). I knew a bunch of them through either my training for booking flights or by films and books.
_But this must be the origin of the now commonly used phrase "touch and go"_ No, the used of that phrase predates the invention of airplanes by hundreds of years. It was first used in the early 1800s, apparently from the name of a tag-like game that was first recorded in the 1650s. Later it was used by coach drivers and piloting of ships as a literal allusion to a vehicle (a coach, or a ship) barely avoiding a collision.
@@jalabi99 Thanks. I still think the modern use, as in "could easily have gone wrong" sounds much more like an aborted plane landing than it does a game of tag. But hey.
I'm now horrified to think how many flights I have taken BEFORE testing for a high standard of English became a thing! I can't believe they waited til 2008!
"Accent doesn't matter, it's important that you are understood on the basic level" rings a bell? Yeah, still prevalent in language learning "enthusiasts" and pilots have to learn English for professional reasons.
Adding to ICAO, this is also generally known as NATO alphabet because, for example, RAF had its own version. Today it is generally used for spelling not only in aviation but in international businesses as well, so all in all, if you aren't a pilot but do want to work in an international environment, do learn it, you'll find it useful.
I am an amateur pilot, and hold both a ground to air radio licence and an air to ground radio licence. I have used English in the UK, Germany, France and Singapore. There is a strictly laid down R/T procedure, and by sticking to that, communication is easy. Everybody knows what they EXPECT to hear from you. The R/T language is not strictly English, but a rather limited form of English. I have been forced to use Schoolboy French in some of the smaller French airfields.
I remember traveling from Lesotho to Johannesburg to Qatar to Beijing to Chicago. I remember thinking how cool it would be to hear many different languages on the plane and probably not hearing English on some. One of the languages spoken was always English, and the other was from one of the other countries. Surprisingly, it wasn't English plus the languages from the country I departed and the language of my arrival country. Haha, just a random story I wanted to share. Great video! Edit: I forgot to add Seoul after Beijing. Whew I flew a lot!
I knew the pilots all spoke English, but I wasn't aware that the cabin crew did as well. The pilots I've worked with (I'm an aircraft maintenance officer, so that's a decent-sized sample) say that in some places, the English sounds like a foreign language. France, evidently, is the worst. One interesting thing about the phonetic alphabet is a substitution in many Muslim countries. They say Washington instead of Whiskey because... well, alcohol.
Wait, you didn't know that the English language tests are obligatory for stewards and stewardesses? These people can sometimes be from very different countries on one flight so it would be pretty unreasonable to have crew that cannot speak English. Since I was a child, I wanted to be a stewardess (am too small) and I was always told that I need to know English. And that was in Poland during communism... Also, when it comes to accent, even among polyglots wannabe you will find people who forgo learning the proper accent because it's not necessary. One of my colleagues during my studies said: I won't be making a fool of myself, trying to pronounce French the way French do. Yeah. :/
It’s not “aviation English” it’s the standard terms used within a profession. Every profession has this to a degree, although probably not formalized as it is in aviation.
I have always understood Red Eye to mean a flight that leaves really early in the morning and gets you to your destination before the start of the work day or breakfast, normally just a short flight.
That is incorrect on the short part; they are normally overnight flights. Many do land before the workday, but most are actually not short. Most flights from North America eastbound to Europe are Red Eyes. The term dates back to the difficulty in sleeping (and timezones) so people arrived with red eyes from lack of sleep and rubbing their eyes. Domestic US flights are sometimes Red Eyes also; Several flights leave Vegas at Midnight or 1am then arrive in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Philly, etc at 4-5-6am for example.
Even native English speakers has to pass this test and it's not unusual for native speakers the achive a 4 or 5 rather than a six as avation English is very diffrent to standard English.
Not strictly true, as an "international arrival" into small French and German airfields, I have had to speak the local language to be allowed to land or take off from these airfields. I suspect that you are merely talking about scheduled international flights here.
While the big iron ATPs usually are pretty crisp and general aviation pilots are sometimes relaxed (sometimes to the point on un-intelligibility), you can often recognize regional / commuter pilots by their growl. 🙂 Not sure if that's because they'd rather be flying the bigger planes or what... At least that's the way it was when I was a general aviation VFR pilot.
Those "phrases" are all fluf, and not any diffrent than just learnign the lingo for any job. The *actual* relevant phrases are here: www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/fs_html/chap11_section_1.html Those are the critical way information is transmitted in english.
Thinking of piloting a language of your own? Try this one! 👉🏼 th-cam.com/video/jHAZHOxmPrc/w-d-xo.html
alternative video title: "Plain English vs Plane English" XD
this title is catchy
Excellent !!!
This is now head cannon. Lol
Someone needs to pay you to write their non-clickbait titles 😂
👍👍👍
I'm studying to be a pilot and love learning languages... this video was made for me 😆
As a pilot and polyglot, I like this video
Respect
Interesting how much of the "secret" pilot slang is readily understandable to any native English speaker, perhaps largely thanks to film and TV. But this must be the origin of the now commonly used phrase "touch and go", as in "It was a bit touch and go, but everything was OK in the end", meaning "there was a definite potential for things to go disastrously wrong, but..." It's good to learn stuff! 🎓😊
I am not a native but these expressions are eerily similar to idioms that have basis in its historic use (i.e. etymology of the idioms). I knew a bunch of them through either my training for booking flights or by films and books.
_But this must be the origin of the now commonly used phrase "touch and go"_
No, the used of that phrase predates the invention of airplanes by hundreds of years. It was first used in the early 1800s, apparently from the name of a tag-like game that was first recorded in the 1650s. Later it was used by coach drivers and piloting of ships as a literal allusion to a vehicle (a coach, or a ship) barely avoiding a collision.
@@jalabi99 Thanks. I still think the modern use, as in "could easily have gone wrong" sounds much more like an aborted plane landing than it does a game of tag. But hey.
I'm now horrified to think how many flights I have taken BEFORE testing for a high standard of English became a thing! I can't believe they waited til 2008!
"Accent doesn't matter, it's important that you are understood on the basic level" rings a bell? Yeah, still prevalent in language learning "enthusiasts" and pilots have to learn English for professional reasons.
Adding to ICAO, this is also generally known as NATO alphabet because, for example, RAF had its own version. Today it is generally used for spelling not only in aviation but in international businesses as well, so all in all, if you aren't a pilot but do want to work in an international environment, do learn it, you'll find it useful.
these random videos of language videos not on specific languages are great, more of these please!
I am an amateur pilot, and hold both a ground to air radio licence and an air to ground radio licence. I have used English in the UK, Germany, France and Singapore. There is a strictly laid down R/T procedure, and by sticking to that, communication is easy. Everybody knows what they EXPECT to hear from you. The R/T language is not strictly English, but a rather limited form of English. I have been forced to use Schoolboy French in some of the smaller French airfields.
Olly, you should look into radio communication, short wave or ham
I remember traveling from Lesotho to Johannesburg to Qatar to Beijing to Chicago. I remember thinking how cool it would be to hear many different languages on the plane and probably not hearing English on some. One of the languages spoken was always English, and the other was from one of the other countries. Surprisingly, it wasn't English plus the languages from the country I departed and the language of my arrival country.
Haha, just a random story I wanted to share. Great video!
Edit: I forgot to add Seoul after Beijing. Whew I flew a lot!
Captain Joe...cool!
cheers :)
I knew the pilots all spoke English, but I wasn't aware that the cabin crew did as well. The pilots I've worked with (I'm an aircraft maintenance officer, so that's a decent-sized sample) say that in some places, the English sounds like a foreign language. France, evidently, is the worst.
One interesting thing about the phonetic alphabet is a substitution in many Muslim countries. They say Washington instead of Whiskey because... well, alcohol.
Wait, you didn't know that the English language tests are obligatory for stewards and stewardesses? These people can sometimes be from very different countries on one flight so it would be pretty unreasonable to have crew that cannot speak English. Since I was a child, I wanted to be a stewardess (am too small) and I was always told that I need to know English. And that was in Poland during communism...
Also, when it comes to accent, even among polyglots wannabe you will find people who forgo learning the proper accent because it's not necessary. One of my colleagues during my studies said: I won't be making a fool of myself, trying to pronounce French the way French do. Yeah. :/
@@marikothecheetah9342 It's not so much that I didn't know, but more that I hadn't really thought about it, since I never was steward.
@@kennethmiller2333 fair enough.
This video is really helpful thank you so much for sharing this information
Now I'm waiting for the 'Pilot English Uncovered' course! 🤣
love this, i love it... i like it! i like it a lot
I learnt the NATO phonetic alphabet mainly for cryptic crosswords...
Amazing video
It’s not “aviation English” it’s the standard terms used within a profession. Every profession has this to a degree, although probably not formalized as it is in aviation.
I have always understood Red Eye to mean a flight that leaves really early in the morning and gets you to your destination before the start of the work day or breakfast, normally just a short flight.
That is incorrect on the short part; they are normally overnight flights. Many do land before the workday, but most are actually not short. Most flights from North America eastbound to Europe are Red Eyes. The term dates back to the difficulty in sleeping (and timezones) so people arrived with red eyes from lack of sleep and rubbing their eyes. Domestic US flights are sometimes Red Eyes also; Several flights leave Vegas at Midnight or 1am then arrive in Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Philly, etc at 4-5-6am for example.
Even native English speakers has to pass this test and it's not unusual for native speakers the achive a 4 or 5 rather than a six as avation English is very diffrent to standard English.
Roger, Olly.
This was so interesting and fun to watch
What's the vector, victor?
These examples do not seem much different than other jargons in other fields. IT support also often use alpha bravo charlie, ...
Not strictly true, as an "international arrival" into small French and German airfields, I have had to speak the local language to be allowed to land or take off from these airfields. I suspect that you are merely talking about scheduled international flights here.
I LOVED! Roger that!❤️✈️✈️✈️✈️✈️
How would they say Québec for Q? In English, I say /kəbek'/ but many anglos say /kwəbek/?
/kwəbek/ is what I've heard most often
While the big iron ATPs usually are pretty crisp and general aviation pilots are sometimes relaxed (sometimes to the point on un-intelligibility), you can often recognize regional / commuter pilots by their growl. 🙂 Not sure if that's because they'd rather be flying the bigger planes or what... At least that's the way it was when I was a general aviation VFR pilot.
Ah
So, they're able to bring 200 people , or so, securely down to ground zero, but not to buy an apple and an egg on a Mancunian market... 🤣🤣🤣
sevgiler kardeşim olly
Tango hotel India Sierra. Victor India delta echo oscar whiskey alpha sierra Victor echo romeo Yankee. Hotel echo Lima papa foxtrot uniform lima
Well why not an Asian language?
METRES, not feet. Have a dislike.
Remind me not to invite YOU to my parties, Got.
What are you talking about? Feet are standard in aviation.
Those "phrases" are all fluf, and not any diffrent than just learnign the lingo for any job. The *actual* relevant phrases are here: www.faa.gov/air_traffic/publications/atpubs/fs_html/chap11_section_1.html
Those are the critical way information is transmitted in english.