Describing pictures in ICAO Aviation English tests
In this article you are going to learn techniques to describe pictures in ICAO English tests. describing a picture is a common part of many ICAO English tests.
What language skills are required?
Quite often the pictures will be of unusual or unexpected events such as damage to an aircraft, a crash/collision or a
malfunctioning piece of the aircraft’s equipment. You will need to develop your vocabulary so that you can easily
explain these situations without being lost for words. As a pilot or controller you will need vocabulary to describe
You will also need a good command of verb tenses so that you can describe:
You should also learn the language skills needed to explain why these events have occurred. This will involve (among others) modal verbs of possibility/probability, conjunctions and infinitives of purpose. You should also use prepositions to describe the physical location, or path of movement of the various objects in the picture. Start by giving a brief description of each picture.
There are different phrases you can refer to parts of each pictures. For example:
Depending on the picture you will need to use appropriate tenses. For example:
- an aircraft is trying to land (present continuous because it is something happening at the moment the photo was taken)
- In this picture an aircraft has collided with a ground vehicle (present perfect because it is something that happened in the recent past with a result in the present)
- A ground vehicle is about to make a wrong turn that will surely cause a problem for aircraft that are landing.
The assessor might also ask you to give your opinion about the picture.
Language Skills
As a pilot or controller you will need vocabulary to describe
Phrases for describing pictures
Start by giving a brief description of each picture.
Related Pages
