GUIDING

1. How to be a good guide

A tour guide is a person who guides visitors in the language of their choice and interprets the cultural and natural heritage of an area. Tour guides are representatives of the cities, regions. Guides help travellers understand the culture of the region visited and the way of life of its inhabitants. They have a particular role to promote the cultural and natural heritage. A tour guide is a person who leads groups of people around a town, museum.

Most guides are freelance (working for themselves, not for a company) and they are hired for a particular job. They inform tourists abou the places they are visiting. A guide has to have deep knowledge of the place and other things (architecture, history, local customes). Preparation is very important, first you have to learn amount of information. Guide has to be capable to jump from one topic to another in one sentence. Also he should be good at judging people and in what they are interested because you have to keep their attention.

Tourist ask a lot of questions and a guide should be friendly helpful and approachable. Guides should claim to know everything, we are not superhuman! If you dont know the answer, say so and add that you will find it for them. It is also important to know where the toilettes are or the date of a monument. When things go wrong you should pause and calmly sort out the problem. Try to make sure that the itinerary is kept to.

Guides také on number of roles for the tourists – teacher, entertainer, nurse, ambassador and the boss. Some people are jet-lagged or have minor illnesess. When we train we do a basic first aid course. As a guide you are ambassador for your country and your job is to promote it. As a boss you have to ensure that the itinrary runs smoothly. You are also responsible for checking in and out of a hotels, taking care of baggage, money and so on.

Above all a good guide should like people. You have to treat them as equals.

Welcome everyone as if they were VIP to your country and enjoy it.

Face the group, not a few

Speak slowly and clearly

Voice should be audible

Practice eye contact

Prepare yourself for questions to be asked

1. Guiding language: indicating position, talking to the group, use of words and forms

Indicating position – On your right is/On your left is/In front of you is/We are now passing/ You can now see…..the beautiful …..the magnificent ……

Superlatives – is one of the/finestmost famous/most beautiful….buildings/sights…in the world./in Asia/.in Vietnam.

Passives – ….. was built…… was painted…… was designed…. is said to/by …(person).in … (date)be haunted/be the best example of …..have lived here.

1. Guide commentaries: describing cities, buildings, and places

A guides commentaries should be interesting, lively, and above all enthusiastic. It shouldnt be too academic. Sense of humour is also important. Commenraries should vary according to a each group. A group of schoolchildren and group of architects require a very different aproach.

When desctibing a place a guide should make it sound interesting and exciting. Guiding language should contain adjectives as wonderful, beautiful, lovely, famous, elegant, superb, splendid, magnificent… A guide should somehow exaggarate it.

Sources: Going International – English for tourism