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English rating in France

I have been flying abroad for some time now, but whenever I talk about it, I am asked if I have English rating on my license. Until now, I don’t, but I registered for the next exam, in Paris, in December.

I was wondering how it works in non-French-speaking countries : do you have local language rating ? Do you use English, and is that compulsory on the licence ?

And has anyone passed the rating ? Is level 6 easy to get, as I do speak English fluently, but I’m French ?

LFOZ Orleans, France, France

It is an ICAO recomendation that all pilots flying Internationally, and all Air Traffic Controllers, have an endorsement on their licence as to the their level of English Language Proficiency. Nationally, the endorsement may be in English or the language used for radio communiscation in that State. France has notified ICAO that French is the language used in France. That is fine, but to fly Internationally you must have English emdorsed, Level 4 or above, Level 3 and below are worthless.

Under EU Law you must have English to fly cross border, French is good for flying in France, but nowhere else. You only need one Endorsement on your licence , either English or the language notified Nationally, not both.

The ICAO requirement was an attempt to reduce the risk of accidents to International Navigation caused by language issues; sadly, it has been largely missinterpreted and has become an obstacle to many GA pilots and a cash cow to unscrupulous language assessors as well as some National Authorities who are charging them “franchising fees”

I was wondering how it works in non-French-speaking countries : do you have local language rating ? Do you use English, and is that compulsory on the licence ?

In Sweden, we do have a Swedish rating. IFR traffic almost exclusively use English, but English is not compulsory.

And has anyone passed the rating ? Is level 6 easy to get, as I do speak English fluently, but I’m French ?

If you speak English fluently with a reasonable pronunciation and know the aviation vocabulary, you shouldn’t have any problem getting a 6.

ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

I only fly VFR, and sometimes in English in France, but ATC tend to speak French after a while, considering I’m registered in France so I must speak French, I guess.

I guess you passed the rating in Sweden. Was it hard ? Did you get a 6 ? How did you train for it ?

LFOZ Orleans, France, France

I did the LPE test a couple of years ago with the Australian shop called RELTA: http://www.relta.org and got my level 6 (no renewals required).
In the Netherlands you need an English ICAO level 4 at least. No Dutch RT whatsoever.
The test takes about 1.5 hours. You basically need to talk to your examiner for some time about your flying and show the ability to communicate with ATC your flight intentions and manage all emergency communications (I crashed a PA28 on the beach ;)). I cannot say it was difficult at all. All conversations during the test are recorded and sent for assessment to Melbourne. You receive your results in a couple of weeks.

Last Edited by kwispel at 02 Nov 18:40
EHLE

I guess you passed the rating in Sweden. Was it hard ? Did you get a 6 ? How did you train for it ?

Yes. No. Yes. Not at all. :-)

The examiner was an ATCO who is also a member of my flying club. We talked for maybe 45 minutes. I got the rating on the spot, but he did record the whole conversation — he said it was in case the authorities wanted to check on his assessments.

Last Edited by Airborne_Again at 02 Nov 22:09
ESKC (Uppsala/Sundbro), Sweden

but he did record the whole conversation — he said it was in case the authorities wanted to check on his assessments.

I hope you didn’t confess any crimes or the upsetting things.

United Kingdom

I have English and Norwegian language proficiency with level 6. I have signed up for the English IFR language proficiency at the French CAA Thursday a week from now.

I should probably get the French language proficiency too since I reside in France…

Last Edited by Aviathor at 03 Nov 19:03
LFPT, LFPN

In BE, as in NL, all R/T is done in English. Except for a few “ulmodromes” in the south where French is used – if any r/t happens at all.
As a curious exception, EBBN Büllingen has German for “native” language, but French, Dutch and English are all perfectly understood – exemplary!

Legal obligation for ELP, level 4 at least, for anyone “using R/T, or intending to do so, to talk to controllers or to a FIS” – which includes anybody wanting to fly abroad, since passing a FIR boundary must be communicated.

Myself proudly carry level 6 ELP, obtained in a way that I promised not to make public. Obtaining it was one of the more pleasant aspects of my pilot’s career, I must say.

And living in a country that belongs to the Francophonie , and holding a radio license issued by the same, I hope to be exempt of French language proficiency requirements, at least till French pilots must have them – which will not be soon, in my reckoning.

PS apologies if I again got too epic.

Last Edited by at 03 Nov 20:45
EBZH Kiewit, Belgium

I registered for the tes at Orly airport on Thursday, we’ll see what happens !

LFOZ Orleans, France, France
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