Teaching abroad

907

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What would it take to do flight instruction in say Germany? Would one have to speak fluent German to do this? Don't they speak English on the coms anyway? Would one have to earn a German based CFI like license? Thanks.
 
Keep in mind that flight instructing is mostly a teaching job, not mostly a flying job. Therefore, no matter what they speak on the radio, you'd need to be able to teach in the native language.
 
Keep in mind that flight instructing is mostly a teaching job, not mostly a flying job. Therefore, no matter what they speak on the radio, you'd need to be able to teach in the native language.


Not really. I have an Italian student that barely spoke a word of English when he got here, and he has moved faster than native speakers. More than likely, they will know some English.
 
What would it take to do flight instruction in say Germany? Would one have to speak fluent German to do this? Don't they speak English on the coms anyway? Would one have to earn a German based CFI like license? Thanks.

It depends a lot on the country and program in which you're looking to instruct. A lot of East Asian (China, Thailand, Malaysia) programs are happy with any ICAO CFI certification (or will assist you get the local one) and knowing the local language is not important.

A place like Germany, however, will be the flip side of the coin. While there are some opportunities for English-speaking, FAA CFIs, most are associated with US military bases there. If you're looking to instruct the locals, not speaking German would be a big hit against you. Further, you'll proabably need a JAA CFI unless you want do some very niche training--flight training costs are such in Europe that it's often cheaper to train for FAA (and often JAA) licenses in the States rather than the EU.

As for English on the comms, yes, controllers and pilots have the ability to speak it. It's not unusual, however, for German controllers to speak German with German pilots, so a grasp of German would be helpful. At the very least, learn the ICAO standard radio terminology, as we're pretty fast-and-loose on the comms on this side of the pond.

Probably most importantly, however, is that unless you're doing work associated with a US base, you're going to need the right to live and work in the EU unless you're very, very lucky or well-connected.
 
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