Over the years I've heard, and heard of, tour guides that are unfamiliar with areas and sights that they are describing, or have so little command of the English language that they could be describing a cathedral design or a goat race for all their tourists knew. A more satisfactory category of guide has all of his/her information memorized and can recite it at the proper time and place in clear, if mechanical, English. However well intentioned you are, don't ask this type of guide a question as it will usually disrupt their train of thought. Then they must either start over from the beginning of the current chapter of knowledge in order to get all the way through it, or just skip the remainder of the chapter while trying to decipher and address the question that's been asked.
There does exist another type of guide that is native to an area, speaks understandably good English, and can adjust their "normal discourse" on the fly to suit their audience's interest and questions. This quality of guide is rare, but we had three of them in a row on our last trip to Italy.
I realize that the previous paragraph stresses the desirability of good English from a guide and sounds almost as if that should be the benchmark for every guide. Not so. I only speak English. If I were an grumpy old monolingual Frenchman, or German, those languages would replace "English" in the preceding paragraphs as a necessity for my comfort and understanding.
This first guide is Stefan. He was brought up speaking both Italian and German because those are the official languages of Trentino-Alto Adige. If you check this area on a map, you'll see that just over the Alps is the Tyrolean part of Austria. The area is rich in Tirol culture and currently happens to be within the Italian borders, hence the dual languages. Stefan has climbed mountains in the US and Alaska and is, in my opinion, a most interesting chap. We discussed the current building boom in several of the mountain villages that we traveled through. Stefan's concerns about the rapid growth are both environmental and sociological. His knowledge of the region, and ability to clearly express it to this English speaking monolingual, were impressive.
In Rome we were gifted with Eva to get us through the swarms of people at the Vatican, and to guide us through the Borghese Gallery. No, Eva isn't Italian. She's Spanish. She has also spent a short time in the States (California, I believe).
I was impressed with her knowledge of art styles, periods and individual artists, both paint and sculpture. I asked her if she was an art major; no, she's has a degree in "Christian Archeology and Church History". In case you wonder if a degree with such a stuffy name can be put to good use: it can. She may not be getting independently wealthy (at the ripe old age of 25), but she clearly enjoys breathing life into history for ignorant tourists. Eva also helps broaden her tour groups' Gelato appreciation. I'd never tried Meringue Gelato, but try it mixed with Mango or Passion Fruit. Ah, Gelato, the Levi's tightener of Italy.
Finally we had an Italian guide that was closer to what I'd expected when we went south from Rome. Francesca was a Neapolitan who moved further down the coast to Sorrento. She was our guide in Naples, Pompeii, Paestum, Sorrento, Ravello, Capri -- all along the Amalfi Coast.
Not only did Francesca know the area, she had a doctorate in English languages from Columbia University! We barely had time to get a feel for the area in 3 days, but Francesca kept us on track and could answer detailed questions on about any subject we asked.
I especially appreciated her candor when she discussed different archaeological theories about Pompeii and Paestum: she'd present two or three theories on something and say "but we don't know for sure - archaeology is just educated guesswork", or something along that line. Call me eccentric, but when a guide tells me exactly what happened, exactly where, and exactly how, and this event happened over a thousand years ago -- I wonder about their certainty.
If you look closely at Francesca's left wrist you can see her watch, which she consulted occasionally and announced, "Andiamo!", meaning "Let's go!"
The "Andiamo"s were balanced with, "okay, here's your Kodak moment", when we had permission to pull out our cameras and get to work.
We were fortunate to have three talented guides while on this trip. All three had their own style, personality, and a clear love of the areas they discussed. Makes me wonder if I could present a reasonably interesting tour of San Antonio to a group from London or Sydney (certainly not Parisians or Berliners).