Enthusiastic smile, vivid and engaged explanation, meticulous and professional service...... This is the impression left by Zhang Yang, a foreign language tour guide, to many tourists. This year, Zhang Yang, who is a national special tour guide and a bilingual tour guide in English and Polish, is really busy, and in his words, "I have started a happy group life again". With the gradual improvement of the convenience of entry and the rapid recovery of the inbound tourism market, the 50-year-old "veteran" tour guide said that he will continue to be a "people-to-people diplomatic ambassador" and tell the beautiful story of China to tourists from all over the world.
Zhang Yang during the trip Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Language is the foundation of intercultural communication
Zhang Yang, who graduated from the School of International Relations in 1997 with a major in English, fell in love with the tour guide profession because of a part-time experience in the Forbidden City in Beijing during college, and chose to become an English tour guide after graduation. In Zhang Yang's view, language is the foundation of cross-cultural communication.
"Most of the tourists I receive come from Eastern Europe, Northern Europe and other countries. The first group I picked up after becoming a tour guide was a tourist from Sweden, and I led them on a tour of Beijing, Xi'an, Guilin, Shanghai, and Suzhou. After joining the group, I realized that although I was accompanying the tourists as a local tour guide, the Swedish team leader was doing the explanation to the tourists. Zhang Yang recalled, "I communicated with the tour leader in English, and the team leader translated to the tourists in their native language. In the first 5 years of my work, I basically took over the group in this way. ”
But this made Zhang Yang feel uncomfortable. "Because of the language barrier, there is always a barrier to communication with tourists. I would like to say that the guest who wants to say what he wants to express does not understand, and when the guest wants to ask and wants to communicate, I can't help it. While some guests are able to communicate in English for a simple time, language is still a barrier when it comes to in-depth communication. ”
The various inconveniences in the process of leading the group made Zhang Yang have the idea of learning a small language. "At that time, I had a desire to overcome the language barrier, communicate directly with tourists, better serve tourists, be an envoy of cross-cultural communication, and be a 'people-to-people diplomatic ambassador'. ”
In order to better communicate with tourists, he insisted on teaching himself Polish, Swedish, French, Japanese, Thai and other languages. "At the moment, I am mainly responsible for English and Polish. ”
In Zhang Yang's view, foreign language majors, especially English majors, have more advantages in learning a new language. "After studying Polish intensively for a while, I started to practice in the field and gradually became more and more fluent in Polish. Zhang Yang said that until now he has maintained the habit of reading books and articles in Polish. "Because new words are constantly emerging, the learning of the language also needs to keep up with the times. ”
Empathy is at the heart of intercultural communication
Being able to communicate smoothly with tourists, Zhang Yang hopes to have more emotional resonance with tourists in the next step.
Zhang Yang gave a key word: empathy.
"To do a good job in cross-cultural communication, we must first be psychologically prepared to recognize that people from different cultural backgrounds and language environments must have differences in culture, habits, and cognition. What we have to do is embrace this difference and tell our culture and story in a perspective and way that visitors can accept. ”
For example, in the morning, we greet guests at the door of the restaurant and introduce them to Chinese breakfast. "When we tell our guests about our diet, we also tell them what they might like for breakfast, whether the bread is croissant or sliced, and which grains go well with yogurt. From the perspective of tourists, give them more intimate advice. ”
"In the explanation of scenic spots, we can use analogy, contrast, and the historical connection with the country where the tourists are located, which is more convenient for them to understand. Zhang Yang shared, "For example, when talking about the Forbidden City, you can compare it with the Palace of Versailles. Before receiving Polish tourists, it is necessary to learn about Polish culture and history in advance, and you can also connect with their history and culture when explaining. This is a great way for guests to pick up when they are chatting about Polish history or famous people. This knowledge is not an overnight thing, it needs to be accumulated and consciously learned."
In Zhang Yang's view, the work of foreign language tour guides should be "down-to-earth", not only to fully understand the tourism service attributes of this profession, but also to understand its cultural exchange attributes, "with sincerity for sincerity, and invest more emotions".
"When dealing with tourists, treat them as family and reflect on all aspects of service. For example, remember the names of all guests as soon as possible, greet them in the way they are used to, and respond to their needs and questions in a timely manner. In addition, tourists from Denmark and other countries generally do not drink hot fruit juice, Polish tourists generally do not eat lunch, and British tourists usually can't wait too early for dinner. ”
"Over the years, I have formed deep friendships with many tourists. Zhang Yang said.
Perseverance is the key to cross-cultural communication
In June 2022, after being awarded the national special tour guide, Zhang Yang established the CYTS special tour guide studio and the CYTS gold tour guide studio with the support of the unit. "Relying on the studio, we have carried out the teaching and related research work, and I would like to do some exploration and try for the development of foreign language tour guides. ”
Zhang Yang recalled: "In the 70s of the 20th century, foreign language tour guides were mainly responsible for translation work, and the attributes of tourism services were not obvious at that time. By the mid-to-late 90s of the 20th century, the work of foreign language guides began to have more tourist attributes. Later, some tour guides became freelancers, and foreign language guides faced new challenges. ”
"I have always regarded group work as a career, and no matter what others think of the profession of a foreign language guide, I have always believed that a tour guide is a messenger of cross-cultural communication. Zhang Yang hopes to convey this understanding to more foreign language tour guides.
At present, Zhang Yang and his team are sorting out the service standards for inbound tourism. "We hope to further improve the service specifications of tour guides by establishing a series of service standards. At the same time, we also want to give full play to the role of special tour guides, establish a training platform, attract new tour guides, and train more foreign language tour guides. Zhang Yang revealed that if these can be implemented, they also plan to explore more deeply how to provide more help to the inbound tour guide group. "I'm also summarizing my years of practical experience and sharing these ideas in the form of a book or a video of the course. ”
Zhang Yang said that what he hopes most is that the whole society will give more positive feedback and confidence to foreign language tour guides. "Let's work together to improve the social status of foreign language tour guides and improve the relevant guarantees, only in this way can we attract more outstanding talents. (Author: China Tourism News reporter Zhang Yu; editor: Yang Shuo)
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