Language Competence and Guiding in a Foreign Language
Precision before fluency
Guiding in a foreign language is a specialist register: it needs correct terminology, stable pronunciation of Czech place names, and the confidence to paraphrase instead of freezing. Build a personal glossary for each site - hrad (castle), zámek (chateau/manor house), tvrz (fortified manor), rotunda, chrám, kostel, kaple, náměstí, most, věž, sgrafito, arkýř, presbytář, relikviář. Note that zámek translated as castle is the classic error; it means a residence, chateau or palace.
Delivery in a second language
Speak more slowly, not more loudly. Use short sentences, one idea each, and pause two to three seconds after every key fact so listeners can decode. Substitute idioms and culture-bound phrases ('as the crow flies', 'a stone's throw') with plain descriptions. Check comprehension by asking a task-based question ('so what happened in 1620?') rather than 'do you understand?'.
Numbers and dates deserve drilling: fourteen-eighteen, sixteen-twenty, nineteen-thirty-eight, and years such as 1348 and 1989 must arrive cleanly the first time. Pronounce Czech names consistently - Kutná Hora, Český Krumlov, Žižkov, Dvořák - and agree with the group in advance which form you will use.
Traps: false friends and literal translation (Czech 'pozor' means attention, not 'possession'; 'čerstvý' is fresh); switching language mid-sentence; apologising constantly for your language instead of preparing better.
Worked example: if you cannot recall 'buttress', say 'the stone support that pushes against the wall from outside' - the group understands, the tour continues.
Rule of thumb: prepare three ways of saying every key sentence: technical, plain, and with an example.