Fast and Clear
Short. Clear. Fast.
Short, clear English that everyone understands. A car at the gate. A crowd. A drone. Three scenarios, 20 minutes each.
Please note: This is a story. It is for English practice only. It is not real military training or orders. It is not from NATO. Do not write real or secret information.
Read the full note
These scenarios are fictional and written for English-language practice only. The actions, priorities and answers in them are what the characters in each story chose to do. They are not military advice, doctrine, standard procedure or operational training, and they do not replace your own unit's or organisation's procedures and orders. This course is not produced or endorsed by NATO. Please do not enter real or sensitive information.
Choose a scenario
Start with Scenario 1. Sound helps. You can also read the words.
Full and Detailed tells the exact same scenarios in longer, formal English. Choose by who is listening. Know the formal words? Saying it short and clear is often harder: practise it here. Know this short way? Learn the other words too.
About this course
NATO English: Fast and Clear is one of the two versions of NATO English: Military Scenarios. It tells the exact same scenarios as Full and Detailed (a gate breach, a crowd at the gate, a drone over the base), in clear, short, global English: short orders, radio calls, saying an order back, and polite lines for civilians.
Short and clear is a skill. In a multinational team you cannot know how strong everyone's English is, so short, plain English is often the best choice, for native speakers too. Saying it simply and exactly is often harder than saying it long. Neither version is the advanced one: each is a different challenge. Learners can follow Fast and Clear from about A2 on the CEFR (roughly STANAG 6001 level 1), and it is practice for every level. About 20 minutes per scenario. (Levels are informal guides, not a test.)
The short lines are on purpose. Each scenario ends with the whole story ("How it ends") and a page that sets its short lines next to sentences from the same scenario in Full and Detailed, and links to it. Full and Detailed has the same pairs on its last slide.
- Every task has sound. Words can be shown for learners who cannot use the audio.
- The timer on the fast choices can be switched off.
- There is no account. Progress is kept in this browser only. Questions typed to Help go to an AI service (Anthropic) to be answered, and the lines a learner plays go to a voice service (ElevenLabs). Learners should not type real names or details.