Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s):
How do I set up my headset and microphone?
In order to complete the speaking exercises you will need to have your microphone correctly configured. We strongly advise you to use an external microphone (not an integral microphone built into your laptop, for example). This guide will help you.
You are
strongly advised to work through the 4-hour
Study Plan
– this Study Plan is an effective way of giving you a good overview of the
program’s capabilities.
Your license is limited to 100 hours but there is certainly more than 100 hours
of training material in the program. This is so that you can focus on the areas
which are of most benefit for you. Everyone has different strengths and
weaknesses. You therefore need to be selective in what you decide to work on.
Think about the areas that you have most difficulty with (listening, grammar,
etc...) and work on those first. Many of the exercises are in sets – for example
the vocabulary exercises often teach the same words but in different ways (one
exercise using pictures, one using only sound, etc). Decide which exercise-types
help you the most and focus on those – you don’t need to do every exercise if
you feel you have understood what you are trying to learn.
You will find that grammar exercises in early parts of the curriculum are easier
than those that come later, so if you find them easy don’t be afraid to move
on. The course is designed to give you as much variety as possible, so as well
as working on modules 1-9 remember that there are lots of other features that
will help you.
Try to use the wordbook, dictionary, pronunciation training, speaking professor
and news stories as well. Although each part of the course is designed to focus
on particular areas, there is some overlap. For example, the fluency exercises
will also help you with grammar, and the pronunciation exercises will also help
you with vocabulary – so each time you login you can try and work on many
different parts of the program.
There are several grammar topics in each unit. Each of the grammar lessons begins with an introduction to the topic and an overview. The overview explains how to use the grammar and gives you some examples to look at. You should read the overview first and then try the exercises. You can also find the overview pages in “My aviation grammar”. The grammar lessons get more difficult as you move through the modules (so, for example, the grammar in Health – module 2 is easier than the grammar in Communication – module 8). There are also several exercises for each grammar topic to help you to practice. You don’t need to do all the exercises – if you feel you understand a grammar point you can move on to the next one. Grammar structures are also practiced in other types of exercises. Fluency and pronunciation as well as listening help improve structures. Try to combine the skills by paying attention to both the sentence structure as well as the key or primary skill for that exercise. Spending time in “My Aviation Wordbook” gives you opportunity to do grammar exercises with words in your Wordbook.
The Speaking Professor works well with “My aviation grammar” – block off the explanations and select “say it” under the Speaking Professor. This is a good way to read and listen at the same time.
How do I practice my listening?
There are lots of different listening exercises in each unit. Each listening has more than one exercise and helps you with different skills – such as general understanding, and listening for particular vocabulary. You will be able to listen to each conversation several times, so don’t worry if you find it difficult the first time you listen. At the end of each set of exercises you can read the transcript of the listening and check vocabulary in the dictionary by clicking on words you don’t understand. More difficult listening exercises are marked with an airplane symbol.
In the listening exercises you will be able to hear a variety of international accents.
How do I practice my vocabulary?
The vocabulary exercises are organized in sets of words that you need to learn for each topic. There are different exercise types including pictures, written definitions and typing exercises. You can chose which exercise types help you learn most quickly and you don’t need to do every exercise - once you feel you have understood the new words you can move on. You can also listen to the way new words are pronounced and practice saying them yourself with the speech recognition exercises.
How do I practice Fluency and Interactions?
These exercises will help you to speak at the correct speed to meet the ICAO requirements and you will be able to talk about a number of different topics. All these exercises use speech recognition so you will need to make sure that your microphone is working correctly. (Look at the instructions in the help tutorials if you have any problems). Many of the exercises are based on the grammar and vocabulary units, to help you practice using grammar and new vocabulary correctly. If you see grammatical structures you don’t understand you can use “My Aviation Grammar” to see the rules and examples. In the “fluency sentences – grammar” exercises you have to read sentences on the screen as fluently as you can. The “Interactions – readback” exercises will also help you with your listening skills, but you can click to see written clues if you need to. The “describe a picture” exercises give you the chance to speak for a longer period of time. It is helpful to spend some time planning what you are going to say before you start recording for the picture exercises. This part of Climb Level 4 is very similar to part of the Test of English for Aviation (TEA) so it is worth spending some time working on these exercises.
What is the Aviation Wordbook?
The Aviation Wordbook contains the 2000 most important words needed for ICAO level 4. You can filter the words by vocabulary and grammar area and you can save words into your personal Aviation Wordbook. You can edit the words in your personal Aviation Wordbook, for example by translating them into your own language, and by selecting “Exercises” you can create an unlimited number of exercises based on the words you have saved. The exercises will help you improve your grammar, vocabulary and listening skills.
What are the Pronunciation assessments?
There are two pronunciation assessments – British and American English. If you are unsure about which accent to focus on, we suggest you take both assessments and see which accent you are better at. This will then help you to manage your time when you are using the pronunciation training. The results of the assessment show you which sounds in English are most difficult for you so that you can spend more time working on these. You can take the pronunciation assessments as often as you wish.
What is the Intelligent Tutor?
Based on your performance in the pronunciation assessments and the pronunciation training, the Intelligent Tutor prioritizes the pronunciation lessons for you so you can focus on the sounds you need to work on most. You can run the Intelligent Tutor as often as you need to and it will suggest a new order of lessons to help you improve. The Intelligent Tutor will often give different results for British and American English – you may find one accent easier that the other. Try to use the pronunciation section each time you login. This will help you with other skills – for example, it will help you to pronounce new words you learn clearly.
How do I use the Speaking Professor?
The speaking professor will say text you want to hear. Copy the words you want to hear, then open the speaking professor and paste them into the box. You can choose to hear the words spoken by a man or a woman, you can select different accents and you can change the speed of speech. Changing the accent will help you improve your listening skills (you will need to understand many different accents to meet the ICAO requirements). If at first you find it difficult to understand, try using a slower rate of speech, and then increase it when you feel more confident. As the text is computer generated, it works best if you limit the amount of text to about 3 lines.
By blocking off text and pressing “say it” under the Speaking Professor at the top of the page you can quickly convert messages and explanations in the My Aviation Grammar into speech.
If you find a word you do not understand in any of the exercises, click on it with your mouse and you can check the meaning in the dictionary. You can choose from several dictionaries, for example English only or English-Spanish. You can hear the pronunciation of each word, and each word you check will be automatically be saved into “My personal dictionary”. Here you can edit the definitions in ways that will help you remember the word – try translating them or writing a sentence that helps you use the word correctly. By selecting My Dictionary / Exercise you can also make exercises based on the words that you have saved to help you learn them.
In the “My News” feature you can find the latest Aviation news stories to help you practice reading in English. This can be a good way of improving your vocabulary. You can also listen to sections of the news stories using the speaking professor. Copy the words you want to hear, then open the speaking professor and paste them into the box.
You can send messages to
(and receive messages from) other students in your group, your teacher (if you
have one) and Technical Support. If you are sent a message then you will be sent
an email informing you that you have a new message waiting for you in the Climb
Level 4 program.
You can use the Speaking Professor to convert a written message to sound.
What is the purpose of the Initial Assessment?
This assessment will give you an indication of your current level according to the ICAO scale. By comparing the results of the Initial and Exit Assessments you will be able to measure your progress. You can only take the Initial Assessment once.
When can I take the Final Assessment?
The link to take the Final Assessment will be available to you 5 hours before your license is due to expire.
How does the program adapt to my particular needs?
How do I contact Technical Support?
Write to support@climb-level4.com