Why Tour Guides Can Be Hard to Understand

(Even When the English Is Simple)

I used to live near Windsor Castle. On some mornings I’d walk along the river, follow the curve of the path, and suddenly the castle would appear above the trees. I saw it often, but it never quite felt the same twice.

There are many tours you can take inside the castle, and if you join one, you’ll usually hear something like this from a guide. This example is based on a lesson I had recently with a student, where we looked closely at how spoken English is actually delivered.

A tour guide speaking

“So, before we go inside, just a bit of background. What you’re looking at today isn’t the result of one single design. Over the centuries, different monarchs made changes, added new sections, and rebuilt parts of the castle after fires, wars, and renovations.

St George’s Chapel is probably the place most visitors recognise. It’s still used today for royal weddings, state funerals, and daily services. You wouldn’t necessarily realise just by walking through, but a lot of what you see is a kind of patchwork of styles, rather than a neat historical timeline — which tends to surprise people.”

Many learners find speech like this hard to follow. But the reason is not usually vocabulary or grammar.

If you read a guidebook, the information is organised clearly on the page. Spoken language doesn’t work like that. In speech, information is often framed, delayed, or implied. The speaker is not just giving facts — they are also showing how they understand those facts.

And this isn’t something that only happens with tour guides.

The same thing happens in business meetings. Instead of simply giving information, speakers frame it to show their interpretation or evaluation:

“What’s interesting here is…”
“The challenge we’re facing is…”
“This might look small, but…”

It also happens when someone tells you about a movie they hated or a K-drama they loved. They rarely say, “I liked it because of X, Y, and Z.” Instead, they shape the story to guide your reaction:

“At first I wasn’t sure, but then…”
“What really worked for me was…”
“It kind of lost its way halfway through…”

In other words, spoken language is not just about information. It’s about position.

This is true in English — and it’s true in your own language as well. Native listeners are used to hearing information presented this way. Learners often aren’t.

Let’s look at how this framing works in the tour guide example.

How the information is “hidden”

The main idea comes late
“So, before we go inside, just a bit of background…”
The guide is preparing the listener. The real point comes later.

Ideas are framed, not listed
“What you’re looking at today isn’t the result of one single design.”
This only becomes clear after the explanation that follows.

Opinions are softened
“probably”, “tends to”, “wouldn’t necessarily”
These words quietly show how certain — or uncertain — the guide is.

Several ideas are grouped together
“fires, wars, and renovations”
Three large ideas are delivered as one unit.

Evaluation is implied
“which tends to surprise people”
The guide doesn’t explain why — the listener is expected to understand.

None of this is difficult English. But the meaning is not presented in a neat, textbook way.

Learning support

If spoken English sometimes feels confusing, it can help to listen for how ideas are being shaped, not just what words are used.

Some useful language from the tour speech:

Key vocabulary

• background

• design

• over the centuries

• patchwork

• timeline

Useful verbs and phrases

• result of

• made changes

• added sections

• rebuilt parts

• used today

More importantly, try noticing these habits in real speech — in English and in your own language:

• setting things up before giving the main point

• framing information to show interpretation

• softening opinions

• grouping ideas together

• suggesting meaning indirectly

Once you start noticing these patterns, listening becomes less stressful. Instead of thinking “I didn’t understand”, you start thinking “Ah — they’re showing me how they see this.”

And like the castle appearing around the bend in the river, the meaning is often already there — you just need to know how it’s being revealed.