Quarantine, isolation, lockdown, shelter-in-place, stay-at-home, social distancing … you name it! Several words for one result: a lot of free time on your hands. Eliot is doing his share to help you with that! Until the end of these very strange times, expect a practice paper once a week, each offering a daily exercise. Stick to the program, you’ll notice a definite improvement.
1 – Friday, April 3rd
Today is the first day of this new program, so let’s start with a general reminder of what you can do to improve your English:
Improve your English in 10 easy steps
Print the page, post it on the fridge, and practice one of the 10 steps instead of binging on junk food.
Two remarks:
– In step 7, the SIA has now only one document related to phraseology: the « Manuel de formation à la phraséologie »
– the correct internet address for step 8 is: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/services/transport/aviation/regulated.
2 – Saturday, April 4th
From L’Anglais pour voler, study these 2 double-pages to learn some basic words:
And practice with a wordsearch.
3 – Sunday, April 5th
Reinforce the knowledge you acquired yesterday with this listening comprehension exercise, listen to the recording and find the missing words in the text:
An update on the footnotes in the article:
(1) is now: https://publicapps.caa.co.uk/modalapplication.aspx?catid=1&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=6973
(2) same internet address, but there is only one manual now, the « Manuel de formation à la phraséologie ».
4 – Monday, April 6th
It is important in radio communications to understand and jot down numbers correctly. Here is some practice:
Transmission of letters, numbers and frequencies
5 – Tuesday, April 7th
The FCL.055 was presented in full in Info-pilote’s October 2013 issue:
Not much has changed since then. The only noteworthy difference is found in the unusual situation test: applicants now have 90 seconds (instead of only 30) to read their card before explaining their trouble.
6 – Wednesday, April 8th
ATIS comprehension counts for 2 points in the FCL.055 listening comprehension test, and is also a key feature in the fictional flight. The good news: it’s an easy skill to work on.
Again, there is only one noteworthy change to consider in the article. In the footnote n°2, the UK’s airports ATIS phone numbers are now listed p.32 of the GetMet leaflet available on the Met Office site. Scroll down the » Aeronautical meteorology – service for low-level aviation » paragraph to the last entry: Training resources for pilots and GETMET.
7 – Thursday, April 9th
Today is the end of the first week of intensive English training. Check your progress with this first FCL.055 listening comprehension test:
Practice 1
Practice 2
Bonus
This Dictionary.com slide on new words the Coronavirus pandemic created and, to finish with a smile or two, a link to one of the many sites posting jokes on the subject .