Being Successful is a Wonderful Feeling
Once a month, students are given an English language proficiency test to determine growth from the previous month. In order to move forward and transition from the classroom to Pilot Training, a score of 80 is needed on the test! Students are not given an oral language proficiency but are assessed in listening comprehension, reading, and grammar skills. There are 39 students in the program and 19 are moving forward. Yes, 19 students with a possibility of another 4 or 5 passing in November! Not only have the 5 English language instructors made an impact, but all the time students spend speaking English, studying English and watching American movies (that we tend to discuss a bit too much in class 🙂 ), along with the fact that part of the success is due to using the Ticonderoga in which they used to bubble in their answers. Oh yeah, they love their pencils too!
Graduation for these students will take place in early December, so there is still English language acquisition happening 6 hours a day, 5 1/2 days a week, until then! Francine and I had the opportunity to join four of the August graduates out on flight line. They were extremely excited to have their pictures taken next to their fixed wing plane in their new pilot uniform! Needless to say, we also had the chance to hop in an MI-17 for a photo-op! NO, I didn’t fly the ‘copter but I was the pretend pilot (see below). Hopefully soon Cmdr Jeff will be emailing for our fun ride in what I like to refer to as the “remote control” looking helicopter. Will keep you posted!!
Sand Through My Toes 