ICAO Language Proficiency was introduced after come interesting incidents with Chinese crews that would fly into Europe and the US without any knowledge of the English language. My favorite video is this:
Many countries have just given Level 6 to all pilots and you don’t have to go further than Spain or Italy to find ATC that clearly don’t know English. One country has implemented this language proficiency scheme 110% and guess which one: Germany!
I have an FAA validation of my license and as part of the validation, the FAA inspector verifies your knowledge of the English language and then prints “English proficient” on the license. Of course this wouldn’t impress a German bureaucrat, why would they consider the FAA to be able to assess English language skills? This can only be done by a German bureaucrat. When it was introduced, the highest level one could get was Level 4 because no other LBA approved examiners were available. With an IFR ticket, this means repeating the language test every 3 years which is a pain in the a.. with all the things we already have. For some time, they wanted to do the same thing for German and Level 6 (highest level which does not require re-testing) was only possible if you prove that you were raised in Germany and attended German school. Well, I would have failed because I grew up abroad. Luckily they gave up on that crazy idea and one can now just sign a document stating that German is the mother tongue.
This time I wanted to solve the English problem once and for all and went for a Level 6 test. There is basically only one freelancer that can do it in Germany, located in Mainz near Frankfurt. He charges 351 € including VAT but how could I complain, he is the only one doing it. The test is very simple and everybody who is fluent in English will pass it without difficulties. Whereas the Level 4 and 5 tests have a fixed structure, Level 6 is just a conversation and a short presentation with two examiners.
I am glad I have this covered now but isn’t it crazy that I have to pay 351 € to solve a problem that never existed — the English language skills of German pilots whereas all Italian pilots got a Level 6 in the license without doing anything and Spain employs ATC at 200k€ a year that don’t speak English at all?
There is basically only one freelancer that can do it in Germany, located in Mainz near Frankfurt. He charges 351 € including VAT …
This is not correct. I did mine elsewhere (much closer to Stuttgart than Mainz!) and it cost “only” 150€. But it wasn’t als easy as you described, of the candidates that took part together with me (they were mostly (ex-) military pilots) more than half failed the level 6 and went home with level 5 or even 4. I wonder how they managed all those years to shoot at the correct targets during NATO missions with only level 4 
Too late to tell you, but people should be aware this “English Language Proficiency” comes from EASA, and thus one can take it in any EASA country. I can’t help thinking an average German would be wise to take this test in France, where his level of English is likely to make quite an impression.
This is not correct. I did mine elsewhere (much closer to Stuttgart than Mainz!) and it cost “only” 150€.
In the beginning, there were more but today there are only two, one of them being Air Berlin and the other this freelancer. You can find the official list of accredited examiners here. LBA revoked the accreditation of several companies and individuals after some irregularities. Following this IKON disaster (a big German FTO that issued fake type ratings and was only discovered by the Swiss CAA), they have gotten very anal.
Too late to tell you, but people should be aware this “English Language Proficiency” comes from EASA, and thus one can take it in any EASA country. I can’t help thinking an average German would be wise to take this test in France, where his level of English is likely to make quite an impression.
Jan, you’re not the only smart guy on this planet. I assure you, I did my due diligence. A German ICAO license will only get a LP entry with a certificated from an examiner in the official LBA list. It would be way too easy otherwise. This is also the reason why it is impossible to get French language proficiency in a German license — there are no accredited examiners for French! And BTW, it doesn’t come from EASA, it comes from ICAO.
I probably couldn’t pass the level 6 test as I am only proficient in merican. 
Sorry, Achimha, I didn’t want to play the smart ass. But I am afraid you have only to blame your LBA – and I can’t help wondering if you couldn’t sue them at European level; if it would ever be worth the hassle.
But my ELP carries a UK signature, though I took the test in France. My own CAA accepted that, though there may well have been some scratching of heads. Please don’t ask for more details, the arrangement was a personal favour.
But I am afraid you have only to blame your LBA
That’s the whole point of my posting, isn’t it?
The other point being that people tend to think Level 6 means “native speaker”. It doesn’t. The examiner wasn’t a native speaker either. And thinking about this, a pilot from Scotland will be a native speaker but he might have more problems being understood outside Scotland than e.g. a German pilot with an accent. It’s all about being able to communicate.
I got level 5 after doing all exams correctly and passing conversation test. When I complained I got reply that level 6 was given only to CPL holders and native speakers which was total bulshit because at my group 3 CPL holders got level 4 and the only person who got 6 was airliner pilot. It’s all about money and repeating exams. I noticed that sometimes I have less problems understanding non-native English speaking ATC than native English speaking pilots have.
Well, at least we can all feel safe that we, in the anal parts of the world, actually do know how to speak English and as such have the ICAO level we deserve, while in China everyone gets a 6 while clearly they do not understand half of what is said on the radio. I mean, it’s not like we’re flying around in the same airspace or anything, so this particular regulation actually has some merit…. err…
Thank goodness for regulation.
Whereas the Level 4 and 5 tests have a fixed structure, Level 6 is just a conversation and a short presentation with two examiners.
Another example of the gross stupidity of the whole system: When I did my LPT, I had to complete a rather detailed exam. Afterwards the audio recordings were sent to an University professor accredited by AustroControl, who had to decide if I was worthy of Level 6. Hooray, I was . Levels 4 and 5 were handed out on the spot, no linguist needed.
All that cost me about 400 Euros, if I remember correctly. 100 Euros were for the professor alone …
