Hi,
I have a question about communication in virtual networks eg. Vatsim and Co. here communicate exclusively in English, which keeps many avid pilots from joining these communities because they do not speak the language and feel insecure. The standard phrases are often not enough and fail already at the gate.
It is possible with the help of an automatic translator software with selection of the language to be translated to eliminate this language barrier. The communication between tower and pilot could be transmitted in speech as well as in text in the simulator.
Always good flight
Gerd

Hello Gerd,

the standard language on Vatsim is English for sure, but there are exceptions. Some controllers are using the language of the area - I have encountered French when flying in Quebec, Spanish in Chile, and German over Germany. If you fly locally, you may be able to request service in the local language. 

Another option is communicating via text. I have seen very often that a pilot only uses the Vpilot textbox, and sometimes even controllers in remote areas (Iceland, if I recall correctly, and also on trans-Atlantic flights) only communicate via text. However, avoid large events (like cross-the-pond) when relying on this.

Peter

Hi Peter,
should be more than an idea for a possible improvement in the cockpit. I myself have been flying in the flight simulator for 30 years and have experienced quite a bit with many approaches to the tower. I experience it with friends, who also like to make friends with this fantastic hobby, that the English language prevents them from registering with IVAO or Vatsim.
Maybe this idea turned some software enthusiasts into reality.
Thanks for your answer and always good landing.
Gerd

I doubt it will happen.

English is simply the standard aviation language when it comes to radio communication. Everyone who does it for real has to speak it, and since most simulator enthusiasts are all about recreating the real world, I can't see how this can be avoided.

But just as in the real world one would start with flying locally which would open the possibilty to speak to a controller in the local language whenever something is unclear, since they are locals as well

Hi,
I did not want to doubt that English is the language of aviation, although in reality it is a different story in France, and it should stay that way. By now there is a translator for every national language in the daily business and political professional world and I also translate here with a software program,

so why not in the radio traffic between the pilot and the tower. The tower sends in English and the pilot hears in Spanish, German or Italian and answers in their respective language, which in turn arrives at the tower in English. One thing, just putting it into software is something else.

Gerd