AN INTERNSHIP REPORT

QUANG NAM UNIVERSITY DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES - - AN INTERNSHIP REPORT Name: TRẦN THỊ HẰNG NI Class: English K09 Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ TRUNG Quang Nam, May 2013 AN INTERNSHIP REPORT A INTRODUCTION I Reasons for choosing the topic English is recognized as aninternational language In other words, English is one of the most popular means of communication the word over Therefore, it is widely used in various fields such as economics, education, science, technology, especially in tourism Tourism plays an essential role in the country’s development Being one of the fastest growing and the most profitable sectors together with one of the most job-attracted fields, tourism, non-smoking industry, brings chances to develop the country and to promote its images to the world And, among diversified classes of tourist service employees in tourism, tour guides own the main duty of popularizing the country’s beauty to domestic and foreign visitors They use English as their main language to introduce and promote attractions Apart from guiding visitors, they are also responsible for abundant duties For example, they are also diplomats, messengers, and so on, at work As for me, a student of English, I am very interested in tourism activities Especially, I am extremely keen on using English for the job as a tour guide As a result, I choose this kind of job for my practicum period at Hoi An Office of Tourist Services Furthermore, during this time at the office, I have also realized the tour guides’ important roles in tourism in general and in the office in particular For all of the reasons mentioned above, I would like to choose the internship report topic “A Tour Guide’s Roles in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services” I hope that the study will raise awareness of the job as a tour guide and their roles at work It also includes some useful and practical suggestions for students of English to consider this kind of job for their practicum periods and lives II Objectives This report concentrates on three objectives First, it is written to discuss the importance and the effective application of English for the job as a tour guide in particular and in tourism in general Second, it is set with the aim to raise awareness of the importance of tourist services Third, it is intended to investigate into crucial tour guides’ roles to have positive attitudes to the job Last, the report also aims at giving some practical suggestions for Quang Nam University, the Department of Foreign Languages as well as for students of English so that the students can get better results in their practicum periods III Research subjects Tour guides in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services are the subjects for the researcher to focus on IV Methodology There is a combination of four methods to conduct this internship report Firstly, I use the method of researching, collecting, analyzing and processing information and materials related to Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports, Hoi An Office of Tourist Services and 12 relics mainly in the city center of Hoi An The information collected is from different sources such the internet, the center, the office, the official tour guides, and even Hoi An inhabitants This method gives me abundant information to write the report Secondly, the report is carried out by using observation method That is, I observe the ways travelers are enjoyed by the tour guides to get experiences and information on the attractions Thirdly, consulting views and opinions from my supervisor Nguyen Thi Trung and the office’s tour guides is often used It helps me to correct information and to receive suggestions to implement the report Last but not least, the method of description is also applied in the way that I reflect what I observe in the tours, what and how information is collected as well as what I learn after being in the practicum period V Results I hope that I will get a multitude of good results for my practicum period Firstly, I hope that when being a trainee at Hoi An Office of Tourist Services, I will have more opportunities to effectively apply my accumulative knowledge to the reality Secondly, by doing the tasks committed, I will get lots of experiences and good attitudes for my future jobs Thirdly, I will supplement much useful knowledge about the relics in Hoi An in order to learn more about the beauty of Hoi An as well as the country Fourthly, my English learning skills for listening and speaking will be better as much as possible through communicating with foreigners frequently Moreover, other soft skills, for example, situational solving skills, relationship making skills and so fourth, will also be enhanced farther Fifthly, it is expected that I will be aware of English effective usages at work, especially for the post as a tour guide Furthermore, I will also take the tour guides’ importance together with their necessary qualifications into consideration to get used to the future jobs Sixthly, I will fully and deeply investigate the organization as well as the functions and responsibilities of each department of Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports together with Hoi An Office of Tourist Services It will help me so much to understand my roles at work and to my tasks as a trainee better Seventhly, I will be familiar with working environment and learn the ways to get on well with colleagues B CONTENTS Chapter 1: AN OVERVIEW OF HOI AN CITY CENTER FOR CULTURE AND SPORTS AND HOI AN OFFICE OF TOURIST SERVICES I Background information of the center and the office 1.1 Background information of the center Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports is a career administrative unit directly depending on Hoi An Municipal People’s Committee The center was founded based on the Hoi An City Committee’s protocol No.294 on July th, 1997 It is considered to be a strong unit of the Culture and Information sector of the country as well as the world to receive many forms of rewards such as The Class Labor Medal in 2000, The Class Labor Medal in 2003, etc 1.1.1 Location Address: Hoai River Square - Hoi An City - Quang Nam Province Proprietor: Hoi An Municipal People’s Committee Telephone: (0510)3861327 Fax: (0510)3863761 Websites: www.hoianworldheritage.org.vn www.hoianancienttown.vn Email: ttvh@dng.vnn.vn 1.1.2 Organizational structure The center includes 10 groups of professional staff divided into three departments under three deputy directors’ management, one traditional art performance house, and one Bai Chong eco-tourism area During the city’s renovation process, the center has increasingly upgraded its human resources as well as the quality and quantity of its services At present, the total number of the center employees is over 150 persons The center’s organization is as follow: DIRECTOR VO PHUNG DEPUTY DIRECTOR Nguyen Thi Nhung Specialized group Specialized group Group of project Group of Thanh Ha Pottery Village DEPUTY DIRECTOR Tran Dinh Chau Group of center office Group of Itinerant Propaganda Group of Hoai River Square Group of Publish Literature & Arts Traditional Art Performance House DEPUTY DIRECTOR Le Thanh Son Bai chong Eco-Tourism Area Group of sports and Gymnastics Group of Guardian 1.1.3 Functions and responsibilities The center owns the duty of organizing and celebrating movements, events, activities on art and culture, physical education and sports, mobile propaganda for disseminating the Party’s policies and laws on Hoi An, and traditional festivals It also introduces, develops, propagandizes and promotes the world cultural and historical heritages of Hoi An through activities on tourist services for domestic and foreign tourists 1.2 Background information of the office Hoi An Office of Tourist Services was founded on October 15 th, 1995 It was directly dependent on Hoi An Department of Culture, Information and Sports In 1997, Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports was established, and Hoi An Office of Tourist Services became the center’s unit then 1.2.1 Location Address: 05 Hoang Dieu Street – Hoi An City – Quang Nam Province Telephone: (0510) 3862715 1.2.2 Organizational structure Deputy Director Nguyen Thi Nhung Deputy Office Managers Ho Thi Phuong Uyen – Chau Toan Khanh Specialized group Tour Guides Controller Nguyen Phuong Dong Group of Thanh Ha Pottery Village Ticket Salesperson Group of project Tour Guides Specialized group Controller Ho Thi Phuong Uyen Ticket salesperson Currently, there are 64 employees in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services This number accounts for more than two-thirds of the total staff number of the center 1.2.3 Functions and responsibilities Generally, Hoi An Office of Tourist Services is mainly responsible for organizing tourist programs around Hoi An city center, Thanh Ha pottery village and Bai Chong ecotourism area in Cu Lao Cham Island Furthermore, the office is also in charge of introducing and promoting tourist products organized and implemented by the office itself Particularly, each group and individual in the office owns different responsibilities and functions The deputy director Nguyen Thi Nhung is also the office leader Her assistants are the two deputy office managers, Ho Thi Phuong Uyen and Chau Toan Khanh The three comrades’ duties are to observe and manage all the office’s activities Besides, there are two specialized groups, specialized group1 and specialized group Each of them includes three different specialized parts They are a part of ticket sales responsible for selling visiting tickets, a controller checking execution activities of buying tickets by visitors when they are in Hoi An for getting sightseeing, and a part of tour guides in charge of introducing the relics in Hoi An city center by guiding the visitors Besides, the group of project is responsible for activities for “Hoi An Legendary Night” on the 14th, every lunar month, and for “Non-motorized Vehicle Areas” This group is also in charge of expanding time and content of visiting activities in the evening for the visitors In addition, the group of Thanh Ha Pottery Village is in charge of managing and guiding guests when they visit the village II The roles of English in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services English plays an important role in the office Most of tourists speak English Thus, English is the major language to communicate with foreigners Moreover, because of the job’s requirements, almost the office’s employees are good at English skills They daily use English to sell tickets and get guests’ bookings for tickets, to guide and enjoy the visitors, for example They apply all English skills simultaneously, especially listening and speaking skills In short, in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services, English becomes crucial means of communication and work Chapter 2: STUDENT’S DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTION I General requirements Spending my practicum period at Hoi An Office of Tourist Services belonging to Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports, I have to obey the office’s obligations, especially ones for the tour guides as follow: 1.1 The the office’s general requirements Working attitudes - Being smiling, helpful and courteous in communication and at work - Standing up when welcoming as well as departing guests - Not being allowed to extra work in the office’s working hours - Not being allowed to eat and/or drink and take others who are not the center’s employees to the office - Guaranteeing to wear suitable clothes depending on specialized groups (suits with ties for men, ao dai for women) and employee IDs at work - Being responsible for combining the main tasks with extra activities such as popularizing festivals, advertising and selling tickets for traditional arts… - Using words at the right time and places - Not being allowed to talk about unrelated topics on the center’s walkie-talkies - Being responsible for preserving the center’s possessions Advertising, welcoming and persuading guests to buy tickets to get sightseeing in Hoi An city center.Specialized levels - Continuing to learn to upgrade foreign language levels serving specialized tasks - Gaining general knowledge about Hoi An’s history and culture in order to upgrade tourist service quality Working hours - Being punctual + Dry seasons (from 1/4 to 30/9) In the morning: from am to 12 am In the afternoon: from 12 am to 18 pm In the evening: from 18 pm to 20 pm + Wet seasons (from 1/10 to 31/3) In the morning: from 6.45 am to 12 am In the afternoon: from 12 am to 17.30 pm In the evening: from 17.30 pm to 19.30 pm - Having managers’ permissions for being absent from work 2.1.1.1 The center’s (the office’s) requirements for tour guides - Being enthusiastic and helpful at work - Guaranteeing the quality and time for guiding guests at each attraction - Not being allowed to speak out the national secrets - Entirely following and guiding guests based on the center’s regulations - Not being allowed to choose guests to guide - Not being allowed to require guests to give tips after taking part in tours - Not being allowed to wear gloves, comforters and sunglasses at work - Being allowed to wear only sunglasses when it is extremely sunny In short, the tour guides are required to master general knowledge about the attractions in Hoi An city center in terms of their histories, architectures, geographies, and so on Besides, the tour guides have to get good health, excellent the job’s required skills such as communication skills, organization skills, situational solving skills, which helps them to be companions with visitors during tours In addition, the tour guides are demanded for being mature and able to think logically and quickly to deal with problems in the tours by chance Furthermore, they have to be patient and trustworthy to accept responsibilities and blames at work 2.2 The tour guides’ roles in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services 2.2.1 The tour guides’ tasks when working for the office Their tasks are described generally as the following steps: 10 ◊They meet tours’ members and the tour leader to make an introduction on themselves ◊They accept the tours’ routines to visit the attractions ◊They lead the tours to the relics ◊They share the information on the relics with the travelers ◊They end their tasks by saying goodbye and good luck to the visitors 2.2.2 The tour guides’ roles in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services It can be said that the tour guides’ roles in the office are also their roles in the tours they guide In fact, the tour guides perform multiple roles at work Firstly, the tour guides are peaceful messengers They link Hoi An with other regions the world over to make the world people’s friendships closer and closer They are required to be knowledgeable and perceived to hold the duties of making the visitors satisfied, comfortable and enjoyable by giving them deeply full information and interpretation of the attractions in Hoi An through tourist activities Therefore, the visitors will get much information and cognition about Hoi An habitants’ real life in terms of their characters, religions, cultures, histories, and so fourth As a result, they understand each other a lot They are keen on making friends Their friendships will become more tightened Secondly, the tour guides are diplomats They meet tours’ members and make an introduction as well as provide tourist services enthusiastically, hospitably and effectively Furthermore, they are also the visitors’ companions, which means that they help the travelers to deal with troubles or questions in the tours Thirdly, they work as marketing employees The tour guides are representatives of Hoi An to promote its cultural and historical heritages, especially the relics, to domestic and foreign visitors Besides, they also provide the travelers with information on the city’s heroic traditions and features Lastly, the tour guides give their contributions to the national security protection Through giving commentaries on Hoi An’s glorious history and passionate beauty, they also confirm the sovereignty of the city and the country They recall the visitors that Hoi An belongs to Vietnam, an independent country Therefore, everyone coming here has to 11 respect their unique sovereignty In addition, they popularize the general law that no one has rights to harmfully commit their securities together with public defenses 2.2 Detailed job description Being trained at Hoi An Office of Tourist Services, I obey the office’s regulations strictly such as wearing trousers and T-shirts as well as using my student ID at work Furthermore, I am allowed to be present at the office from 8a.m to 11a.m, from Monday to Friday In addition, I am required to have their permissions for being absent from work 2.2.1 My tasks in the office Working at the office, I own the main task for a tour guide assistant and sometimes a tour guide when possible and with permissions My tasks in detail are divided into two stages: 2.2.1.1 Finding information This is my first stage to be trained at the office I am required to find out information on the relics in the city center in terms of their histories, architectures, outstanding features, etc The followings are my some typical examples of resulting information on the attractions ◊ Japanese Covered Bridge The Japanese Covered Bridge, or Bridge Pagoda, or Lai Vien Kieu, is one of the most famous relics in Hoi An It is considered to be a possession of the Japanese community and a beautiful example of Japanese architecture in Hoi An The bridge was built in the early seventeenth century It was constructed with a roof so that it could be used as a shelter against both rain and sun On each its side, there are two sculptures, a pair of wooden monkeys in the western side and a pair of wooden dogs in the eastern side And, there are several explanations for these animal statues It is said that they are symbols of sacredness of Japanese culture Another explanation is that according to the Asian zodiac signs, in the year of monkeys and in the one of dogs, many Japanese emperors were born Furthermore, it is also said that the bridge’s construction was initiated in the year of dogs and was finished in the one of monkeys Thus, these statues were built to celebrate this event In addition, another ancient story said that a dragon monster resided in the ditch under the bridge Its head was located in India while its tail 12 was in Japan and its back was across Hoi An town Whenever the monster woke up, floods happened to cause damages to the town’s human life It is the reason why Japanese built the bridge in order to protect the inhabitants from disasters and to help them live peacefully and prosperously There is a temple of the northern god of weather, Tran Vo Bac De, inside the bridge, which was built by Chinese People believe that this god controls all kinds of weather changes and natural calamities Therefore, sailors worship and also fear him The Japanese has been restored several times in 1763, 1817, 1865, 1917 and 1986 It has been regarded as the symbol of the ancient town and was licensed as the National Historical and Cultural Relic on the 17th February, 1990 ◊ Quan Thang Ancient House The house was built in the early 18 th century This private house was originally owned by a prosperous captain called Quan Thang Today, it is seen as one of the nicest ancient houses in Hoi An It is well-preserved as its primitive status with the architectural style of Hoa Ha area (in China) thanks to talent Kim Bong carpenters With its great capacities, its owners bring lively natural images of birds, flowers, butterflies, and stripes of red silk to the house The walls around the god “Thien Vinh” yard considered to be its most beautiful part have a lot of small squares or rectangles with images inside stand out describing the life of farmers, nobleness Meanwhile, the landscape outside is cool, romantic and in harmony with the beauty inside ◊ Quang Dong Assembly Hall The colorful Quang Dong Assembly Hall was established in 1885 by Chinese Cantonese merchants The building’s different parts were separately made in China Then, they were transferred to Hoi An and joined together to build Quang Dong Assembly Hall Various Cantonese statues are spread out all over the hall Some of them reflect the musical drama of the Cantonese culture It was firstly used to worship Thien Hau Holy Mother and Khong Tu But, it was used to worship Quan Cong and their ancestors since 1911 The harmonious combination of wood and stone material and beautiful decorations bring the unique and sacred signs to the house 2.2.1.2 Attending tours 13 I follow the office’s tour guides by attending the tours they service In the tours, I observe the tour guides’ working ways so that I can learn their working experiences Furthermore, during the tours, I write down their information on the relics visited in both English and Vietnamese I usually pay attention to their explanations to get deeper knowledge about the relics apart from the information I collect in the first stage In addition, my assistant task is also to supply the visitors with information related to a tour guide’s knowledge when they need For instance, when the number of the visitors in the tours is large, I can partly work as an official tour guide for individuals or a small group of them In other words, I provide them with exact information accumulated during my tasks’ two stages 2.2.2 My roles in the office For the main task as a tour guide assistant, I help the travelers with instructions for transportation and accommodation in the city center such as shops, restaurants, coffee shops, and so on, when they require Furthermore, I help the official tour guides to ensure that no one in the tours gets lost For another task as a tour guide for sometimes, I share almost the same official tour guides’ roles as follow: ◊ I am a messenger to connect people and help them make friendships ◊ I am a diplomat to be the visitors’ companion and share information with them, and to make them feel comfortable and satisfied with the office’s services ◊ I am a marketing employee to promote Hoi An’s images to the travelers ◊ I donate and protect the city’s security Chapter 3: REFLECTION 3.1 Advantages 3.1.1 Advantages of knowledge Firstly, at Quang Nam University, I have learned the subjects related to tourism and the post as a tour guide, English for Tourism, Vietnamese Cultural bases, for instance Therefore, I have already partly gotten basic cognition about the field of tourism, tour guides together with their needed qualifications Secondly, when studying other subjects, speaking, writing, British culture, American culture, for example, I have found information about Hoi An and its relics as 14 the world cultural and historical heritages in terms of their histories and architectures, and about Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports as a tourist agency All of the information is useful for me during the time of being a trainee and writing the internship report 3.1.2 Advantages of skills Firstly, as mentioned above, I have actually practiced as a tour guide in class for the subject “English for Tourism” for some times Thus, I have been familiar with the job as a tour guide as well as its requirements to some extent such as communication skills and self-confidence ability at work Secondly, speaking and listening subjects that I have learned at school are also significant for me to my tasks well Having good listening and speaking skills, I can communicate with foreigners confidently as if I was an English native speaker Thirdly, possessing excellent reading skills through the reading subject, I can skim and scan for information related to the masters of the practicum period (materials on the relics and Hoi An, information on Hoi An City Center for Culture and sports, and Hoi An Office of Tourist Services) quickly and effectively 3.1.3 Other advantages First, my house is near Hoi An city Besides, I am studious and hard-working All of the two advantages are convenient for me to be at work from three to five times a week In addition, every Sunday afternoon, I go to the relics to make conversations with foreigners by myself to improve listening, speaking, and communication skills, to get self-confident in communication, and to find out useful information for the report Second, in the process of finding the information, I have already had a computer with the internet connection, which creates good conditions for me to search the materials quickly and frequently Third, the official tour guides are enthusiastic and helpful to provide me with needed materials as well as experiences for my report and tasks at work Furthermore, they are so friendly that I can rapidly get on well with them and be familiar with the working environment 15 Last but not least, most of the tour guides and visitors speak English, which creates advantageous environment for me to practice English in order to work more effectively In conclusion, all of the issues mentioned above bring me abundant benefits during my time of being a trainee at the office 3.2 Disadvantages 3.2.1 Disadvantages of knowledge The first disadvantage is that I have only cognized about tourism and the job as a tour guide just to some extent In other words, I have not gotten deep knowledge about these issues Therefore, I am sometimes confused when applying what I have learned at school to work That is, in fact, the tour guides have to be more knowledgeable and flexible to deal with various troubles at work by accident They hold multiple tasks at work apart from guiding visitors as my thoughts before My second obstacle is that although I have found information on relevant aspects, some of them are not reliable Therefore, it takes me time to correct and supplement my knowledge by comparing the information from the internet with the one from the reality This last difficulty about knowledge is that my cognition about cultural differences is limited Occasionally, when the visitors want to say something by using their body language, I cannot understand them at all As a result, I not carry out my tasks well when giving no answers to the travelers’ requirements 3.2.2 Disadvantages of skills First, although I have trained for listening and speaking skills at school, I cannot communicate well with foreigners for the first two weeks The reasons are that I not feel confident enough to make conversations with them, and entire English speaking environment makes me confused when there are some strange situations without Vietnamese interpretations In addition, the visitors in Hoi An are from many different countries It means that not all of them are English native speakers Therefore, their pronunciations are not entirely exact, which is difficult for me to recognize their words Second, apart from communication skills including listening and speaking ones, the tour guides are also demanded to be good at situational solving skills They have to think logically and quickly to find out solutions for urgent problems However, I have not 16 ever learned or put these skills into action before Therefore, I cannot find out suitable solutions for the visitors without the tour guides’ instructions 3.2.3 Other disadvantages During this time, I cannot be at the office all the days due to their permissions It is an obstacle to limit my opportunities to practice English and carry out my tasks frequently In addition, my health is not good enough to be present at the office day by day from Monday to Friday Furthermore, I also miss some tours to attend when being late at work because of taking no buses to travel As a result, I sometimes have days off Moreover, I feel embarrassed and shy when being at the office with the crowded mature staff for the first time because I have never been familiar with working environment before In brief, I meet lots of difficulties at work All of them are required to have reasonable solutions so that I could the tasks better and better 3.3 Solutions Firstly, in order to get competent cognition, I should find out materials related to tourism in general and tour guides in particular to supplement my knowledge about these issues In this way, I may be aware of some situations for a tour guide to solve as well as their importance and responsibilities at work Thus, it is obvious that my situational solving skills will also be improved Besides, I will take cultural differences together with non verbal-communication into consideration so that I can clearly understand foreigners in tours Secondly, to deal with the problem of finding reliable information needed, I should go to the relics and ask for it by interviewing the inhabitants, the tour guides, or even the photographers I meet, apart from the ones from the internet This way will help me save time in the process of collecting and analyzing full and exact information Thirdly, with the aim of listening and understanding the foreigners speaking English with different accents, I have better practiced listening more by discs or conversations with them in my free time This way is also important for me to improve my English communications skills 17 Fourthly, with the purpose of having more opportunities to practice as a tour guide, I should go to the relics and try to be a friendly companion with visitors to the same tasks of an official tour guide on my days off It will also help me to get rid of shyness I will be more sociable and easy-going in working environment In addition, I can also recognize the travelers’ general requirements in tours by giving them questions about tourist service satisfaction Their answers will teach me how to make the visitors in the tours I attend at work more comfortable and satisfied Fifthly, in order to get working experiences, I should enhance my relationships with the office’s employees who are said to be living reliable sources of experience Furthermore, I ought to read and watch more materials related to the job as a tour guide And, one more way to get experiences is that I should pay more attention to the ways the office’s tour guides in particular and the tour guides in Hoi An in general carry out their tasks at work For instance, I can learn their appearance, behavior, and so on Lastly, it will be better for me to rent a house in Hoi An city center, which is convenient for me to be present at the office more often without transportation or illness obstacles to some extent In addition, I can arrange a suitable timetable for work corresponding to the office’s one to avoid the situation of missing tours To sum up, if all solutions discussed above are applied simultaneously, I will overcome the difficulties to work better during my training time at the office J CONCLUSION I Summary Tourism is one of the main goals to promote the country’s images to the world And, tour guides play an essential role in this non-smoking industry Therefore, tour guides are required to have high qualifications in terms of various aspects, especially knowledge and skills Likely, the tour guides in Hoi An Office of Tourist Services are also demanded to perform abundant tasks with good quality and to own variety of responsibilities Therefore, they have to deeply master information on the relics as well as Hoi An city to ensure good guiding services Being trained at the office, I am actually a tour guide assistant and a tour guide when possible to get benefits for my practicum period and for future jobs, and to help the office as well as the tour guides to provide the travelers with really good tourist services 18 In addition, I also have to strictly obey the regulations of the center and the office in terms of working attitudes, specialized levels, working hours, etc During this time, although there are some advantages and disadvantages during my training time, I have chances to apply what I have learned at school to work and get some useful lessons II Lessons learned The two month training period is not too long but enough for me to get some practical lessons from the reality and working environment Firstly, I have learned that getting wide and thorough knowledge about Hoi An, its relics, tour guides’ qualifications and roles, Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sport as a travel agency, competent skills such as listening and speaking, etc., is crucial to perform well in practicum time Secondly, being a trainee helps me to alternate effective ways to apply my accumulative knowledge at school to the reality at work During this period, I also know how to supplement my cognition by lessons of experiences supplied by my colleagues apart from books on theory Thirdly, I know how to process information needed scientifically and logically Fourthly, by solving some situations at work with the tour guides’ instructions, I have learned some ways to deal with general ones at work by myself effectively Fifthly, I have realized that it will be more convenient for me at work to have good social relationships My acquaintances, such as the specialized teams, may help me with information on the relics and working experiences, for example Besides, they can help me feel comfortable and friendly to be in the office Sixthly, I have recognized that putting theory into practice frequently is also essential Therefore, spending more time to practice a as tour guide in free time may help me learn and accumulate experiences Seventhly, doing exercises to maintain good health is so important for me to work as a tour guide III Suggestions Suggestions for Quang Nam University and the Department of Foreign Languages 19 Quang Nam University and the Department of Foreign Languages should create more favorable conditions for students of English studying at the university to be on factfinding tours In this way, the students may have opportunities to apply their knowledge and skills into the reality In addition, they will be more familiar with working environment in the future Furthermore, they will get much experience from the reality, and to improve their English learning skills Suggestions for Hoi An City Center for Culture and Sports as well as Hoi An Office of Tourist Services For the center in general and the office in particular, they should give the students more chances to actually work as official tour guides at least four to five times at the end of their practicum periods This permission will help them to apply what they have learned after being trained for almost two months, and to get good training time results as well as useful experiences for their future jobs Suggestions for students of English Generally, the students should be more sociable to have variety of good relationships, which will be meaningful for them at work and in life In addition, getting good health is also important for the students to work well, of course Thus, they should more exercises to maintain good health Particularly, the followings are some detailed suggestions for the students to perform well in their practicum periods 3.1 Suggestions for students when they are at school When studying at Quang Nam University, the students of English should be studious and hard-working to find out more reliable materials apart from teacher’s ones and put knowledge into practice frequently An illustration for this way is that the students can go to tourist attractions to get information about them in person, and to get deep cognition about cultural differences, non-verbal communication, tourism together with tour guides in terms of their functions, responsibilities, qualifications, etc Besides, the students can penetrate into the job as a tour guide by volunteering to be free tour guides in Hoi An, for example, at weekend or in summer That is, for instance, they can supply travelers with needed information on Pagoda Bridge, Tan Ky Ancient House, and so on, through conversations For this to be done, the students will actually apply what 20 they have learned at school to the reality to get familiar with working environment, experiences, as well as to change their deficient thoughts about tour guides’ roles in tourism When studying Listening, Speaking as well as other soft skills, the students should practice more often They should listen to foreigners speaking English with many different accents by discs or direct conversations Moreover, they also can create English speaking environment in classes to get used to using English as a daily language 3.2 Suggestions for students when they are at work When being at work, the students should be friendly, enthusiastic and interested in learning They can supplement knowledge, skills and experiences from their colleagues Quang Nam, 30th April, 2013 Supervisor Student Nguyễn Thị Trung Trần Thị Hằng Ni 21