College and the common workplace are not the only two places where being able to speak English like an American are important. A recent CBS News 5 story about a Phoenix, Arizona flight school explains that thick accents and basic knowledge of how to pronounce words in English is a huge issue in the flight industry.
A Phoenix-area instructor notes, “I’d say at least 50 percent of my students had, I would say, a major language barrier.” The issue in the flight industry is not just with the ability to understand pilots in the making with accents in English, but it can also affect their ability to pass the FAA certification required to be able to fly almost anywhere internationally, including the United States.
In addition to passing the FAA test, pilots who have not undergone accent removal training or used some method of accent reduction or removal can cause safety issues during flights, especially between themselves and those sharing the cockpit with them. The ability to be understood in English is tantamount while flying a plane—human lives are in the hands of pilots every day.
Phoenix area pilot, John Hancock stated, “Verbal communication is extremely important for us.” Hancock’s sentiments were echoed by commercial pilot Rick Valdes, who stated, “The problem arises when something occurs and you have no airline phraseology and you have to use plain English.”
Learning to speak accent-free English is every bit as important as knowing how to read and write in English when it comes to school and work, but it’s even more important when you’re up in the sky carrying precious cargo.
If you are a flight student trying to reduce your accent in English, there are inexpensive ways to go about it. PronunciationPro.com now offers accent reduction and pronunciation classes online for a monthly subscription of just $19.97 per month. You won’t find accent reduction classes online at a more reasonable price than that! To contact Pronunciation Pro, simply click here to submit your questions or comments.
