It’s fall break time again. Many Germans take this opportunity to extend their summer in southern climes. Off to the airport—and here we go! But at the airport, our ears are bombarded with all sorts of sounds: planes taking off and landing, crowds in the departure hall, a multitude of announcements, and much more—all of which create a high level of background noise.

Understanding conversations or instructions in such noisy environments is not easy and puts our ears under real strain. How do you cope under these conditions? To find out, the German Hearing Aid Industry Association has developed an online hearing test that allows you to assess your hearing under real-life conditions at an airport. Why not give the audio sample a listen and try to understand everything amid the noise level of an airport? You can find out for yourself at the end of the test by trying to answer the questions correctly. Afterward, you’ll receive the test results and recommendations for next steps. Of course, this is no substitute for a professional hearing test with an ENT doctor or hearing care professional, but it gives you an initial sense of how your hearing is holding up. With our other listening scenarios, we’ll put your hearing to the test during a business lunch, a conference call, and at a stadium.

If you’re having trouble following conversations or understanding announcements, it’s time to see an ENT specialist or hearing care professional. And if they do diagnose hearing loss, modern hearing aids can help. These small hearing systems offer many smart features that help you focus on what’s important, even in noisy situations—like at the airport. For example, they can suppress background noise and automatically detect the direction of speech, bringing it to the forefront. This allows you to understand announcements even in noisy environments and follow the conversations of your fellow travelers more easily.

But that’s not all: These smart devices can even transmit your travel information directly into your ear or automatically adjust to changes in air pressure during takeoff and landing. By the way, you don’t need to worry that the security scanners will affect your hearing aids. Hearing aids typically do not set off the alarm, and you don’t need to remove them or place them on the conveyor belt. Read here to find out what you should keep in mind when flying with hearing aids.

To learn how modern hearing aids improve quality of life in other areas as well, read the article “High Tech to the Power of Ten: All the Things Modern Hearing Aids Can Do.”