You can read the codes, use the standard words, and tell the story of an incident afterwards. This lesson attacks the two skills left: warning people about dangerous weather before it arrives, and understanding people who do not speak the way the manual says they should — because in the test, and on the radio, they often don't.
The examiner's two hidden questions
Can you warn, not just report? Reporting says what the weather is. Warning says what it is about to do, and what the listener should expect. That is comprehension of the situation — and it needs future forms and conditionals.
Can you handle plain, messy English? Under pressure, pilots stop using standard phraseology and start talking like frightened humans. The comprehension score measures whether you still understand — and can pull the conversation back to standard words.
Can you check instead of guess? A Level 5 speaker never pretends to understand. Say again. Confirm. Verify. Asking is a skill the test rewards; guessing is the mistake it punishes.
Can you correct politely and fast? When someone reads your information back wrong, seconds matter. Negative. I say again… — clean, calm, no apology needed.
The idea that runs through this lesson: misunderstanding is normal. Radios crackle, people are stressed, half the world speaks non-standard English. The professionals are not the ones who always understand first time — they are the ones with a system for what to do when they don't.
Warm up — say it out loud (60 seconds)
Think of a time someone misunderstood you at work — in any language. What happened, how did you notice, and how did you fix it? One minute, past tenses, keep moving.
01:00
Hazard words — the weather that closes airports
Twelve terms. Click each card to check the meaning — but try to say the definition before you flip it. These are the words of the situations the test loves: sudden, dangerous, and hard to describe.
wind sheara sudden change in wind speed or direction over a short distance — most dangerous close to the ground
a microbursta small, violent column of sinking air that hits the ground and spreads out in all directions
a gust frontthe leading edge of cold air rushing out ahead of a thunderstorm
volcanic ashfine rock particles from an eruption — invisible to radar and deadly to jet engines
a downdraftair moving rapidly downwards, pushing an aircraft towards the ground
severe turbulenceviolent, irregular movement of the air that can injure people inside an aircraft
icingice forming on an aircraft's wings or instruments, changing how it flies
to deteriorateto become worse — the official verb for weather going bad
to divertto fly to a different airport because landing at the planned one is impossible
to abortto stop a takeoff or an approach that has already started
unreadableimpossible to understand on the radio — the official word for a broken transmission
a hazarda danger — anything that could cause damage or an accident
Which word is it?
1. A pilot on final approach suddenly gains 20 knots of airspeed, then loses 30. The wind has changed direction twice in under a mile. What has the aircraft flown through?
2. Radar shows nothing. The sky looks hazy. Two aircraft report engine problems at cruise altitude, hundreds of kilometres from any storm. The most likely hazard?
3. Which sentence uses deteriorate correctly?
Ninety seconds — the difference that matters
Wind shear, a microburst and a gust front are cousins. Explain the difference between the three to someone who has never studied weather — without looking at the cards.
01:30
Warnings & alerts — talking about weather that hasn't happened yet
A report describes the present. A warning describes the future — and the future needs different grammar: will / going to for what you are sure of, expect for what the listener should prepare for, and if-sentences for what depends on the weather's next move.
The three shapes of a warning
Shape
When you use it
Example
Expect + noun
Standard, short, on the radio
“Expect moderate turbulence below three thousand feet.”
Will / going to
You are confident about what comes next
“The gust front is going to reach the field in about ten minutes.”
If + present, will…
The action depends on a condition
“If the visibility drops below 600 metres, we will start low-visibility procedures.”
Why examiners love warnings: one warning sentence shows vocabulary, future grammar, and judgement all at once. “It's windy” is Level 3. “The wind is thirty knots gusting forty-five, and if it stays above forty, I expect the airport will suspend operations” — that is Level 5 in a single breath.
In plain English: aircraft arriving on runway 27 should expect to lose about 20 knots of airspeed roughly 2 miles before the runway; the surface wind is from 240 degrees at 18 knots, with gusts to 30. Notice what the alert does not contain: no “please”, no “I think”, no full sentences. Danger first, details after.
4. An aircraft reports: “Gained 25 knots on short final, then lost it all at 200 feet.” What should the very next transmission to the following aircraft contain?
Build the warning — if-sentences under pressure
Complete each warning with the correct form of the verb in brackets. Then check.
1. If the visibility below 600 metres, we will issue a new report immediately. (drop)
2. If this cell keeps moving north, the gust front the field within fifteen minutes. (reach — use will)
3. Expect delays: if the ash cloud east overnight, the airspace will stay closed tomorrow. (not move)
4. If the temperature below zero while the rain continues, we will get freezing rain on all surfaces. (fall)
5. If we another 20-knot loss on final, I expect they will change the runway. (see)
Your turn — two minutes of warnings
A line of thunderstorms is 30 kilometres west of your airport, moving towards it at 40 km/h. Give a spoken briefing: what is happening now, what will happen in the next hour, and two if-sentences about what the airport should prepare for.
02:00
Say again — when you don't understand, and when they don't sound standard
Here is a secret about the test: the examiner is allowed to be unclear. Real radio is full of stressed people using plain, messy English — and the comprehension score measures whether you cope. You have two tools: the standard words for checking, and the skill of translating messy English back into standard English.
The checking toolkit
You say
It means
SAY AGAIN
Repeat your last transmission. (Never “repeat please” — and never pretend you heard.)
SAY AGAIN ALL AFTER…
Repeat only the part I missed — everything after these words.
CONFIRM…
I think I understood — tell me yes or no. “Confirm runway 27?”
NEGATIVE. I SAY AGAIN…
You have it wrong — here is the correct version.
WORDS TWICE
Reception is terrible — say every phrase two times.
SPEAK SLOWER
Exactly what it says — and completely professional to ask for.
DISREGARD
Ignore my last transmission — it was wrong or no longer matters.
The Level 5 habit: checking is not weakness. In aviation, the person who says “say again” sounds more professional than the person who guesses — because everyone on the frequency knows what guessing costs. The same is true in the exam room.
Translate the messy transmission
Each pilot below has stopped using standard words — stress does that. Listen to the transmission (don't read it first), then say what the pilot means in calm, standard English: the situation, the position, and what they need. Then compare with a model version.
“Yeah tower, we're getting absolutely hammered down here, the wind's all over the place, honestly I don't fancy this at all, we might have another go or maybe not, standby.”
The meaning: the aircraft is experiencing strong, changing winds on approach — probably wind shear — and the crew is considering going around. Standard version: “Experiencing severe wind shear on final. We may go around. Will advise.” Notice what disappeared: the emotion (“I don't fancy this”) and the vagueness (“another go or maybe not”).
“Er, we've got a bit of a situation, the windscreen's gone all white, can't see much of anything, we're thinking we might need to, you know, go somewhere else.”
The meaning: the windscreen is iced over, visibility from the cockpit is almost zero, and the crew is considering a diversion. Standard version: “Windscreen icing, forward visibility severely reduced. Request weather at the nearest alternate — we may divert.” The messy version never said the word icing — you had to understand “gone all white” and name the hazard yourself. That naming skill is precisely what the test measures.
“Tower, that last bit — we got maybe half of it, something about the runway? You're coming through all broken.”
The meaning: they received only part of the transmission and reception is poor. Standard version: “You are unreadable. Say again all after ‘runway’.” — and if it continues: “Words twice.” Two standard phrases replace three sentences of confusion.
5. You transmit the runway state. The pilot answers: “Ah… sorry, got maybe every third word of that.” Your best response?
Practice — you be the translator (90 seconds)
Invent your own messy transmission — a stressed pilot describing any weather problem in plain, emotional English. Say it aloud in the pilot's voice, then answer it in calm, standard words. Both halves are you.
01:30
Catch the error — readbacks that could hurt someone
When you pass information, the other station reads it back — and sometimes reads it back wrong. Spotting the error instantly, and correcting it cleanly, is one of the sharpest comprehension skills the test can see. One error hides in each readback below. Listen to each one without reading, find the error, then reveal the answer.
Drill 1
YOU: “Wind 240 at 18, gusting 30. Visibility 1,500 metres in rain.” READBACK: “Wind 240 at 18, gusting 30. Visibility 5,000 metres in rain.”
The error: visibility — you said 1,500 metres, they read back 5,000. In poor weather that difference changes every decision. The correction: “Negative. I say again: visibility one thousand five hundred metres.” (Fifteen hundred and five thousand are famously easy to confuse — which is why the full form, one-five-zero-zero, exists.)
The error: the runways are swapped — the readback sends traffic to the closed runway. This is the most dangerous kind of readback error because every individual word was correct. The correction: “Negative. I say again: runway zero niner open, runway two seven closed.” Repeat the pair together — correcting only one half invites a second confusion.
Drill 3
YOU: “Temperature minus 2, dew point minus 3. Freezing rain expected from 18:00.” READBACK: “Temperature minus 2, dew point minus 3. Freezing rain expected until 18:00.”
The error: one tiny word — from became until — and the meaning reversed: they now believe the hazard ends at 18:00, when it actually begins then. The correction: “Negative. Freezing rain expected FROM one eight zero zero — I say again, FROM one eight zero zero.” Stress the one word that carries the danger.
Drill 4
YOU: “Wind shear alert, runway 27 arrival: 20 knot loss on 2 mile final.” READBACK: “Copied, wind shear alert runway 27: 20 knot gain on 2 mile final.”
The error:loss became gain. A loss of airspeed on final is far more dangerous than a gain — a crew expecting a gain will be surprised in the worst possible way at the worst possible height. The correction: “Negative. Twenty knot LOSS — I say again, LOSS — on two mile final.”
What the four drills have in common: the error is never a hard word. It is a number, a swapped pair, or one small word (from/until, gain/loss). That is where real misunderstandings live — and where the examiner will hide them. Listen for the small words carrying big meaning.
Speak — the correction reflex (60 seconds)
Without reading from the screen, correct this readback aloud, in standard form: you said “visibility 800 metres”, they read back “visibility 8,000 metres”. Go — and make the dangerous number impossible to mishear.
01:00
Talk & discuss — Parts 1 and 3
The interview part of the test wants opinions, explanations and experience — delivered fluently. Use the timers. Aim for the full time without stopping; going round a missing word is part of the exercise.
The picture task
Describe, then predict (2 minutes)
Describe the picture: the storm cell, the column of air beneath it, the arrows near the ground, the aircraft holding short, the tower. What is happening — and what would you expect at this airfield during the next fifteen minutes? Use at least one expect sentence and one if-sentence.
02:00
Discussion questions
1. The eruption question
In 2010, a volcanic eruption in Iceland closed most of Europe's airspace for days. Some said the closure was an overreaction; others said it was the only safe choice when nobody could measure the ash. When information is incomplete, should aviation always choose the most cautious option — whatever it costs? Argue both sides, then give your own view.
2. The messy-English question
Standard phraseology exists so that everyone sounds the same. But this lesson has shown that under stress, people stop using it. Should training spend more time on perfect phraseology — or on understanding imperfect English? Which has saved more lives, in your opinion?
3. The confidence question
Many professionals with good English still feel afraid to say “say again” — it feels like admitting weakness. Where does that fear come from, and what would you say to a new colleague who guesses instead of asking?
4. Your airfield
Of all the hazards in this lesson — wind shear, microbursts, icing, ash, deteriorating visibility — which one worries you most where you work, and why? What does a really good observer do about it that an average one doesn't?
Mock test 4 — the three parts, back to back
Run it like the real thing: no pausing, no restarting a sentence more than once, and when a word is missing — go round it and keep moving.
Part 1 — Interview (3 minutes)
Answer in full, one after another:
What does your work involve on a day when severe weather is forecast?
Tell me about a time the weather changed faster than the forecast said it would.
How do you make sure the people who receive your reports have really understood them?
03:00
Part 2 — The situation (2 minutes)
Read the report, then brief aloud: what is happening, what you expect in the next hour, and two if-sentences about what should be prepared.
TS 15 KM W MOV E 40KMH · WIND 250/22G38KT · VIS 4000M ↓ · TEMP 01 DP 00 · WIND SHEAR REPORTED RWY 27 FINAL
02:00
Part 3 — Correct the readback (1 minute)
You transmitted: “Wind shear reported runway 27, 25 knot loss on final. Braking action medium. Expect runway change if it continues.” The readback you receive: “Wind shear runway 27, 25 knot loss. Braking action good. Expect runway change.” Correct it — cleanly, standard words, dangerous item stressed.
01:00
Self-check
Any box you couldn't tick is your target for next time — and it's exactly what the examiner is listening for.