Shadowing Practice: WATCH this video before BECOMING A PILOT! Tips by CAPTAIN JOE - Learn English Speaking with Video

Dear friends and followers, welcome back to my channel

and to a very important video about things you should know before becoming a pilot.

What are we waiting for?

And let's get started.

Today's video is brought to you by the Future Pilots Masterclass.

Pilots come prepared.

You'll see at the end of the video.

Being a pilot is not an official job.

Okay, this may surprise you, but sadly it is true.

The pilot job in many countries is not listed as an official job.

What I mean by that is, in Germany for instance, when you lose your job, like I did after the bankruptcy of Air Berlin,

I went to the job center here in Munich and enlisted as unemployed,

meaning they would contact me if there was a job position as a pilot for an airline.

Do you really think airlines hire pilots from the job center?

No, they don't.

So the interviewer at the job center sort of asked me if I had any other job qualifications besides my pilot license.

I didn't.

So he said, as your job isn't an academic profession, meaning I don't have a university degree,

basically only received flight training to do one thing he frowned

and said well we'll have some real difficulties finding you a new job please apply to any airline

and inform us once you have a job again goodbye now

to make a long story short with your pilot license you

can only fly planes that's it no one is going to offer you a job as an accountant, maybe an apprenticeship.

Constant training and learning.

You'll be surprised how much training and check flights we have to pass every year.

Just to mention a few, you annually have to pass your medical examination.

So exercising regularly and eating healthy throughout the year will reduce your anxiety prior to this annual check.

Once you turn 50, the medical checkup will be twice a year.

Then you have a day of ground school training once a year.

The operator will check on your system, navigation, procedure and SOP knowledge.

Followed by two simulator checks every year where your competence,

manual flying skills, procedural knowledge and how to deal with emergencies will be assessed in four sim sessions each four hours long.

You need to be at the top of your game for these sim checks.

If you fail, you will be grounded for a while, may have to receive some extra training, and then will be rechecked.

Then you have a line check, annually or every two years, on the actual aircraft.

Here an examiner is sitting on the jump seat behind you, evaluating your performance, and checks your system and procedural knowledge.

Fail it, and you are grounded for a while until you've received extra training.

Now besides these physical checks, you have regular computer-based learning sessions that you have to complete every 2-3 months,

keeping you in the books.

This can vary from airline to airline, but the more established ones will have all these checks in place.

The seniority list is strict.

This is an important one and has cause for a lot of confusion.

Seniority in an airline is everything.

I say that one more time, seniority is everything.

When you start out, you'll be at the bottom of the seniority list and at the bottom of the pay scale.

Over time, you move up the seniority list until it's your turn to upgrade to captain and get the respective salary.

But suppose at some point during your career, you realize you want to switch airlines because the other airline has a base closer to your home.

As you make the switch, you will lose all the seniority positions you have gained with the previous airline

and start back out at the bottom of the list and pay scale.

I am the best example for that.

After flying for 8 years with AirBerlin, I was close to my upgrade, but just before that the company went bankrupt.

I was then unemployed for half a year until I got my job with Cargolux.

I had 5,000 jet hours at the time, so I had enough experience to join Carglox, and having the experience was great,

but I had to start at the bottom of the list.

Now this is not just for Carglox, any respectable airline hires you for your experience,

but you have to accept that you'll start all over again on the seniority list.

So I have 8 years of experience at Air Berlin

and another 10 to 11 years of first officer time at Cargolux to become a captain.

Even if you are already a captain, airlines may hire you, but you have to turn in your four stripes and fly as a first officer again.

Now you say, that seems super unfair.

Well it is not, because if someone came to Cargolux as a so called ready entry captain,

or she would steal a senior first officer upgrade position.

The senior first officer has been loyal to his company for many years

and gets swooped away from his upgrade position by a Ryanair captain, for example, who has fewer hours and fewer years of experience.

How is that fair?

It's not.

That's why the seniority list is important and the only way to keep it fair for everybody.

You can't choose the plane you want to fly.

Now I get this a lot.

Hey Joe, I want to fly the 747 like you when I become a pilot.

I always respond, I'm happy to hear that you have a vision and motivation,

but the 747 operators have become rare and what plane you'll fly is not for you to decide.

As a finished flight student, you have little to no decision power on which type of aircraft you will fly in the future.

The airline you'll be hired at will decide for you which aircraft you'll fly.

Even if you are flying for an airline like the great German Lufthansa, which has an array of airplanes in their fleet,

the airline will decide which plane you'll get rated on.

It is a matter of pilot demand on the type of aircraft.

Now the only time you can really sort of decide

is when you pass the assessment at an all-boeing operator

and the other one is an all-airbus operator like southwestern jet blue

or rhino and easyjet if you are an airbus

or boeing fan you can then choose either way also flying long haul

or short haul what the airline needs they will use you for it also

when you upgrade to captain you may switch from long haul to short haul or from Airbus to Boeing.

Lufthansa again is a great example for that.

So don't say, I just want to fly an Airbus. Be flexible.

You can't decide where you want to fly to.

Another one I get a lot, once I fly for an airline, I only want to do the day flights and fly to the favorite holiday destinations where we have longer layovers.

I'm sorry to say, but it doesn't work like that.

You'll fly to the destinations your airline is operating to, yes you may request certain flights and destinations within the network of your airline,

but if you want to fly to Hawaii as a low-cost carrier pilot in Europe, it ain't gonna happen.

A good example on my side, I have always wanted to fly to Australia.

Cargolux has a few flights there as we transport to the Formula One cars for the race in Melbourne.

I always request it but i have 80 co-pilots ahead of me with higher seniority

and if one of them bids on

that flight it's theirs i mentioned how important seniority is right

vacation planning is dependent on airline i want vacation days on christmas new year's easter

and of course every year during summer No, that is not going to happen.

As a rookie FO, you are flying on all of these dates.

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Vacation days are yet again allocated based on your seniority.

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So the longer you are in the company, basically the more loyal you have been to the airline,

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the higher your chances are that you get vacation during those highly requested days.

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Every airline is different.

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Yes, that is very much the case.

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Well, all airlines have the same goal of being profitable, reliable and a safe airline.

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However, every airline has a different goal or vision.

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Lufthansa, again as an example, caters very much towards their business customers offering great service in first

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and business class with flights to the big hubs around the world.

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Their sister company Eurowings, on the other hand, focuses on holiday charter flights, domestic flights and cheap long-haul flights.

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Two very different products.

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To give you a little bit more examples, low-cost carriers, for example, sell a cheap and cheerful product.

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DHL mainly transports mail.

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NetJets caters to millionaires.

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Every airline has a different interest, so you need to decide which of them aligns with your personality, lifestyle and wishes.

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Which one of them would make you proud to work for such and such airline?

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What's their reputation?

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Etc. Dramatic pay differences between the US and Europe.

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Now this was a big surprise to me when I started out as a pilot.

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There can be drastic pay differences between airlines within the same country.

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For example, two captains flying the same aircraft, having the same amount of experience

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and flying the same amount of hours every month can have a net pay difference up to 2,000 euros.

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If you take it even a step further and compare European pilot salaries to the US, it gets even worse.

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A mate of mine flies for a well-known airline in the States and in his first year as a first officer,

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he made triple the money that I made after being in the company for six years.

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Does he fly more than I do?

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No, but he has far higher fixed costs than I do.

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Health insurance, 401k, loss of license insurance, and much more needs to be paid from his salary.

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Good European airlines take care of most of these costs.

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So yes, he makes much more than I do, but the living costs in the States have skyrocketed over the last 20 years.

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The same goes for European pilots who decide to fly in the Middle East or Asia.

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Yes, the money is great, but what good is all the money if you can't step outside of your house during summer time?

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Most of them come back after a few years.

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I have seen it so many times.

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So the grass isn't always greener on the other side,

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but where you go is your decision and and then you have to take 100% responsibility for your actions.

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Some airlines have a union while others don't.

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Most airlines, as mentioned before, have the common goal of being profitable.

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But some airlines, especially their management, couldn't care less about their pilots.

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As long as the job gets done and money has been made, it sounds harsh, but some CEOs have publicly stated

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that pilots don't work hard and that they'll be happy if AI replaces their position.

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But are they hard worked?

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No. These 900 hours a year

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or 18 hours a week on average you know likely to generate fatigue no

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that being said if you don't fight for contract rights for instance

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that no ready entry captain can take away your seniority position or

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that you lose the hotel privileges as management decides it's good

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enough for you to sleep at a noisy airport hotel

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or your travel benefits get taken away

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or the company doesn't increase your salary due to inflation

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or just being up to industry standards etc your best option

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to ensure you the quality of your job is to join

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a pilot's union sadly there are many airlines out there

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that don't allow pilots to form a union they are the

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prime example of what management can do to make it more

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and more unattractive to work for that airline the result is high fluctuation of pilots and a miserable cockpit atmosphere.

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If you can choose, go for the airline where the pilots are backed by a union.

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I obviously hope I never have to see you in your uniform, wearing a high-reflective vest, walking through an airport terminal and blowing your strike whistle.

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But sometimes it is necessary to stand united against management.

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Consider having a plan B.

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Yes, having a plan B is super important.

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Nowadays there are many factors that could cause you to lose your job as a pilot.

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Again, I am the prime example.

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During my 8 years flying as a first officer with Air Berlin, I felt comfortable, had a safe job, good salary and slowly moved up the seniority list.

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What could possibly go wrong?

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Well, the airline went bankrupt and suddenly 1500 pilots were without a cockpit seat

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and all these 1500 pilots instantly applied to the remaining German airlines.

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So within two months after the bankruptcy announcement, I was unemployed just like that and eight years of seniority gone.

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Luckily I immediately found a new job with an even better airline, but not all of my colleagues were that fortunate.

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Until today there are still a few who aren't flying anymore

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or were hired at an airline that also then went bankrupt a few months later due to COVID.

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Another example, A friend of mine was diagnosed with sudden vertigo symptoms, meaning he had moments of vertigo that he couldn't predict or properly control.

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He therefore lost his medical, hence his job, and never flew an airliner again.

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So what I want you to do is think and act like a pilot early on.

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When a pilot departs, they always plan with enough fuel to reach an alternate destination,

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should the destination airport be closed because of bad weather or other reasons.

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So why don't you plan ahead like a pilot for your life

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and either get a master's degree or other job qualifications that you can keep as a backup in case things go sour.

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It will also look great on your application CV that you are qualified to do more than just fly planes.

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Please keep this in mind and thoroughly discuss this with your family or partner before jumping into flight school.

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You're going to thank me later.

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Loss of license paid by yourself.

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Speaking of losing your medical, have you ever heard of an insurance called loss of license?

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The loss of license insurance comes into action should you lose your license due to unforeseen medical reasons,

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paying you a monthly salary for the remainder of your career depending on the chosen coverage.

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Again, some airlines pay for basic insurance coverage, others don't.

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So choose an airline that does or consider added monthly costs in your financial planning.

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Not having any loss of license insurance at all is like departing without alternate fuel.

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Flying can be challenging on your body.

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You'll be surprised by the dry in the cockpit, jet lag, fatigue, noise, stress, airplane food, hotel beds, temperature changes,

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schedule changes and many other factors that affect your body.

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Believe me when I say I absolutely love my job

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but I have underestimated how much flying has an impact on my body.

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Now the factors I just mentioned are outside influences however there are also body related influences, especially during flight training.

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Have you ever heard of the leans?

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When you are in full IMC turning left, but your body is sensing that you're in a right turn.

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This is an absolute eye-opener to any flight student, and you will experience that.

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Now just because you don't get nauseous riding roller coasters doesn't mean you're invincible when flying.

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Also turbulence hits differently in a training aircraft than in a heavy jet airliner.

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So please approach these influences with respect.

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Being a pilot is a team job, not a one-man show.

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Now many people believe that once you've become a pilot you'll always be flying the plane

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and the flight attendants will serve you food and drinks at the snip of a finger.

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Just because you're wearing wearing a uniform doesn't make you a godlike figure.

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Aviation is all about good teamwork and bringing the plane,

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the crew, the passengers and or cargo safely from A to B.

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This is made possible by good communication,

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resource management, finding solutions, executing them and treating each other with the necessary respect.

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Show-offs are not what airlines are looking for.

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So good shout out to the topless pilots on Instagram.

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idea how your abs are helping you during an engine failure.

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Makes no sense to me.

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Preparation is key.

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Phew, if I would have known how much you can prepare nowadays before even setting foot into flight school,

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my training days would have been a lot easier.

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With today's resources you can read up on so much material, books, computers, flight simulators, youtube videos,

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experience flights, etc. that once you are actively enrolling in flight school, you'll hear and see everything a second time around.

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Again, I want you to already think like a pilot

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because a good pilot is always learning and comes well prepared for their flights.

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So how great would it be

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if you didn't have to spend weeks on end finding the right answer on google

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or pilot forums on how to become a pilot always with this anxiety is

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that the correct answer because i found five other answers too wouldn't it be amazing

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if there's one place

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that has it all where you can find all the information on how to become a pilot

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and be best prepared before going into flight school well this

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place actually exists i took six months out of my life

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to put together a video course to give you the best tips on how to prepare for flight school.

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This five hour long video course with tons of material to print out will hit differently.

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We also have regular zoom call meetings if you have further questions, so just try it out for 30 days.

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If you don't like it, get your money back.

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Spend a few bucks now to save a ton whilst you are in flight school.

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You'll regret it if you don't use the chance.

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Just saying.

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You can't choose where you'll be based at.

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As much as you can't choose the plane you want to fly, nor the destinations you'd like to fly to,

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the hardest one will be that you can't really choose your home base.

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Let me use my basis as an example.

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I live in Munich and during my time with Eberlin I was based one year in Stuttgart, which is a two-hour drive, then five years in Dusseldorf,

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which is a six-hour drive, and lastly in Munich, which was a 20-minute drive.

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Lucky me.

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Now, the company I fly for now doesn't have a base in Munich, but in Luxembourg.

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So either I move to Luxembourg or accept the five-hour car commute multiple times a month.

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Another example is a mate of mine who flies for Delta.

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He lives in Miami, but his home base is at JFK, and if he turns captain, he most likely will be based out of Atlanta.

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So, for every rotation, he has to deadhead to JFK or Atlanta in the future,

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because ultimately he enjoys the weather in Miami more than at JFK.

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Therefore many pilots either have a crash pad

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or a preferred hotel at their designated home base for standby shifts or to get some rest before starting their duty.

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All of these added costs are to be kept in mind.

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So an airline can determine where you will be living in the future

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or you have to be willing to do the commute.

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And finally, the last thing that I want you to know is hard work pays off.

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Be open-minded, be humble, and always ask questions.

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I have realized over the 15 years that I've been a pilot that hard work,

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dedication, being open-minded and always eager to learn something new will always pay out in your pilot career.

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The aviation industry is constantly evolving and you'll have many aha moments along the way.

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By regular reading up in your manuals and sharing an interest in your plane and airline, you'll make it so much easier for yourself.

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And some final key advice.

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Stay humble, stay professional, stay respectful and whatever you do, don't get cocky.

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No pilot likes to fly with those colleagues.

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You'll see.

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Thank me later.

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This brings us to the end of our list.

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Now, I do want to say this list may have killed your motivation a little in wanting to become a pilot,

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especially the facts about the home base and that you can't choose the plane you want to fly.

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But it is super important to me that I am honest with you about these, should you consider becoming a pilot.

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I can't emphasize this enough.

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I I absolutely love my job, I even made a whole video about the top 10 things on why you should become a pilot,

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but a lot of it depends on which airline you fly for.

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Any happy pilot will agree with me on that.

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So please share your thoughts on this list in the comments section.

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I'm looking forward to seeing what you'd like others to know before diving into flight school.

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And on that bombshell, here's your checklist for today subscribe to my channel, check, activate the notification bell, check, follow my Instagram account,

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check, perform a touch and go at my website, check, and don't forget, a good pilot is always learning, wishing you all the best, your Captain Joe.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “WATCH this video before BECOMING A PILOT! Tips by CAPTAIN JOE”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: airline, pilot, flight, fly. This video has 274 sentences and 3661 words to shadow. The speech runs for 23:42. The speaker talks at a natural 154 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 83% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English; the rest is worth studying before you start.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
airline noun	/ˈɛɹˌlaɪn/	A company that flies airplanes to transport people and goods.
seniority noun	/sinˈjɔɹɪti/	A measure of the amount of time a person has been a member of an organization, as compared to other members, and with an eye towards awarding privileges to…
haul verb	/hɔl/	To transport by drawing or pulling, as with horses or oxen, or a motor vehicle.
airbus noun	/ˈeɹ.bʌs/	A subsonic jet airliner, especially a wide-bodied one.
cockpit noun	/ˈkɑkˌpɪt/	A well, usually near the stern, where the helm is located.
bankrupt adjective	/ˈbæŋk.ɹəpt/	In a condition of bankruptcy; unable to pay outstanding debts or meet financial obligations; specifically, having been legally declared insolvent.
unemployed adjective	/ˌʌnɪmˈplɔɪd/	Having no job despite being able and willing to work.
airliner noun		A passenger-carrying aircraft, especially one of a fleet operated by an airline.
vertigo noun	/ˈvɝtɪɡoʊ/	A sensation of whirling and loss of balance, caused by looking down from a great height or by disease affecting the inner ear.
procedural adjective	/pɹəˈsiːd͡ʒ(ə)ɹəl/	Related to procedure.
cater verb	/ˈkeɪɾɚ/	To provide, particularly
commute verb	/kəˈmjuːt/	To exchange substantially; to abate but not abolish completely, a penalty, obligation, or payment in return for a great, single thing or an aggregate; to cash…
depart verb	/dɪˈpɑɹt/	To leave.
fatigue noun	/fəˈtiːɡ/	A weariness caused by exertion; exhaustion.
qualification noun	/ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/	The act or process of qualifying for a position, achievement etc.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
move up verb		To promote, put onto a higher level.
start out verb		To emerge suddenly; to jump out.
take away verb	/ˌteɪk əˈweɪ/	To remove something and put it in a different place.
come back verb		To return to a place.
look forward to verb		To anticipate, expect, or wait for, especially with a feeling of approval or pleasure; to be excited or eager to.
pay off verb		To bribe, especially to deter oversight.
plan ahead verb		To schedule or plan extensively for problems before it is needed; to come up with solutions before problems occur; to prepare for future situations.
put together verb		To assemble, construct, build, or formulate.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

What are we waiting for?
You'll see at the end of the video.
Do you really think airlines hire pilots from the job center?
Does he fly more than I do?
Have you ever heard of the leans?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its result	If you fail, you will be
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	you've received · have gained · has been
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it	is brought · is not listed · will be assessed
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	Lufthansa, which has · Stuttgart, which is · Munich, which was

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 68 contractions and reduced forms, such as you'll, don't, can't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “th” sounds: theirs /ðɛɚz/, thoroughly /ˈθʌɹ.ə.li/
The “sh” and “zh” sounds: qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, aviation /ˌeɪ̯.viːˈeɪ̯.ʃən/, apprenticeship /əˈpɹɛn.tɪs.ʃɪp/, bombshell /ˈbɑmʃɛl/, fluctuation /flʌkt͡ʃuːˈeɪʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: seniority /sinˈjɔɹɪti/, procedural /pɹəˈsiːd͡ʒ(ə)ɹəl/, qualification /ˌkwɑlɪfɪˈkeɪʃən/, aviation /ˌeɪ̯.viːˈeɪ̯.ʃən/, apprenticeship /əˈpɹɛn.tɪs.ʃɪp/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like airline, seniority, haul.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Sentences worth repeating

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?