Serious Post: "Learn a PHONETIC ALPHABET" of your choice. And practice very-very regularly..

[Sourdough]

There are a few different options. Just my opinion, pick one, it is fun. I use the phonetic alphabet about three or five times a week on the telephone. There are so many companies employing personnel that can't enunciate clear english. I often have someone ask if I am military, I respond no commercial pilot. Practice in the shower or driving down the highway.

 

[Sourdough]

It is easy & fun. Just learn three or four words each day. Turn it into a song if you choose. But get skilled, your life "might" depend on it.

English is required language "WORLD WIDE" for pilots for all communication on radio.

When I am in LAX air traffic control, I really have zero grasp what most traffic is saying. It can get very-very funny at times.

If you have children make it a game to teach them a Phonetic Alphabet.

 

[Bacpacker]

They are almost a requirement at times when talking with someone with a weak signal on ham radio

 

[Neb]

There are a few different options. Just my opinion, pick one, it is fun. I use the phonetic alphabet about three or five times a week on the telephone. There are so many companies employing personnel that can't enunciate clear english. I often have someone ask if I am military, I respond no commercial pilot. Practice in the shower or driving down the highway.

We had to learn it in boot camp. There are variations allowed.

Ben

 

[Weedygarden]

My first year out of h.s. I went to business school. This was part of a class that was required, called telephone training.

I am attaching the NATO phonetic alphabet. I don't think it is exactly the same as what I learned.

 

[Sourdough]

I am 186 y/o and I'll be 187 y/o in two weeks. So sometimes my ultra sharp quick-thinking slows down or stops for a few mega-seconds. If I am using the phonetic alphabet, I'll just fake it with a common word with the same first letter.

 

[Sourdough]

So called "N" numbers on your aircraft are Phonetic Alphabetic. I got a special giggle driving my neighbors PA-18-150 "N"-number "123 WW" (One-two-three Whisky-Whisky).

 

[OldSchool]

Foxtrot Tango Sierra

 

[Haertig]

Learn the NATO one. It is called by different names, but the words are the same. It has been around, unchanged AFAIK, since the mid-50's. That is the "international standard" one. Choosing your own variation of words confuses things. People are expecting to hear specific and agreed upon words, and get thrown off when someone makes a substitution. e.g., The last letter of our alphabet is "zulu", not "zed" or "zebra" or some other thing. People that do not have English as their first language may not know what a "zebra" is, let alone that it starts with the letter "z". The graphic that Weedy posted is the one to use.

 

[Weedygarden]

Learn the NATO one. It is called by different names, but the words are the same. It has been around, unchanged AFAIK, since the mid-50's. That is the "international standard" one. Choosing your own variation of words confuses things. People are expecting to hear specific and agreed upon words, and get thrown off when someone makes a substitution. e.g., The last letter of our alphabet is "zulu", not "zed" or "zebra" or some other thing. People that do not have English as their first language may not know what a "zebra" is, let alone that it starts with the letter "z". The graphic that Weedy posted is the one to use.

I was thinking that when I learned it, 50 years ago, that Z was zebra. But that was 50 years ago, and I have only used it here and there.

I think it is worth printing out and either laminating it or putting it in a plastic page.

 

[Alaskajohn]

I find it refreshing when the other person on the phone understands the NATO phonetic alphabet. With most companies offshoring their call centers, it is the only way I can understand them and I surely want to make sure they understand me.

 

[Hardcalibres]

I most commonly use the NATO phonetic alphabet when I am booking flights over the phone......to communicate my name.

These days, if they misspell your name on a booking, and it doesn't match your ID, you may not get to fly.

 

[INresponse]

The police departments I worked for, and most others in the area, use
Adam, Baker, Charlie, David, Edward, Frank, George, Henry, Ida, John, King, Lincoln, Mary, Nora, Ocean, Paul, Queen, Sam, Tom, Union, Victor, William, X-ray, Yellow, Zebra.
Yes it is different than the military but most are common names and less confusing to "civilians" than some of the words like Juliette, Lima, and Papa. I know, simple words to emphasize the first letter but, common names catch the ear better to the untrained. I use it quite often when trying to spell things over the phone and even when in person while someone is trying to type it into the computer.
I can understand the military version but that is due to improvising based on my many years of experience. Is one better than the other? Maybe, maybe not, it will all depend on the situation and who you are talking to.

 

[lonewolf]

there are so many foreigners employed at call centres these days, if I cant understand them I say so and put the phone down.

 

[Sourdough]

I most commonly use the NATO phonetic alphabet when I am booking flights over the phone......to communicate my name.

These days, if they misspell your name on a booking, and it doesn't match your ID, you may not get to fly.

Same for me, not for flights, but for the spelling my last name in communicating with medical clinics.

 

[Morgan101]

I learned the NATO Alphabet quite by accident when I was in college. A friend's father owned a large fishing vessel, and we used the NATO Alphabet on the ship-to-shore radio. I never forgot it.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I understand it, but I've never seen the need to use anything but English in this country. On the rare occasion that someone calls that I can't understand I either hang up or ask for an American speaker.