English Proficient??

The FAA is trying to accomplish something that, well, should already be in effect. They are requiring all pilots to have an additional endorsement put on their licenses stating that he or she is "English Proficient". English has long been the so-called aviation language. Every Air Traffic Control agency in the world must speak English to comply and pilots who fly outside their country are supposed to speak English as well as to ensure that there is at least one language that we can all communicate in. I guess all of us here in the U.S. are lucky that the language is English. Can you imagine if it were like Mandarin Chinese?

Back to the license. The FAA is requiring all pilots have this endorsement placed on their licenses to ensure that all the pilots licensed by the FAA meet this English requirement. Well, this should have already been verified, as part of any of the many practical and oral examinations that student pilots take ensure that the pilot is in fact proficient in English. However, this new endorsement is coming under attack from opponents arguing that it is discriminating. THEY ARE DAMN RIGHT AND I AM GLAD. I have a hard enough time with states already giving driving exams in foreign languages. I mean our "Stop" signs do not say "ALTO" (I think that is stop in Espanol...) why should they not have to know English to drive? And now they are arguing that they should not have to be English proficient to fly? Even though that the WORLD has agreed that English is the INTERNATIONAL language of aviation?? Give me a break. We need the skies to be safe and to be able to understand what others are saying. We cannot have a open skies agreement if we cannot understand each other.

Part of the argument states that English is a very difficult language to learn (second to Mandarin Chinese). I have heard that before, and looking at things, I guess I can understand that, but oh well. It is not an option. It is a requirement. Don't like it, well then don't fly. You have the choice.

Now that's off my chest, so I will leave you with just a couple examples of how the English language could be confusing:

**Why is monosyllabic (meaning one syllable) composed of 5 syllables?

**Why is a 'Wise Man' the complete opposite of a 'Wise Guy'?

**If horrific means very horrible, does terrific mean very terrible?

**Why are 'apartments' stuck together??

**Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a race car is not called a racist?

**"I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Yet it is argued that "I Do" is the longest sentence (...just kidding Jenae!)