Course Thoughts
Reflections from the two-year Israeli tour-guide course (2012–2014) and the licensing exams that followed. Less about the sites visited (those live in the geographic categories) and more about the process: what the course was like, the breadth of material covered, and what it took to qualify.
11 articles
11 articles
The theory of a good food tour
Day one of the culinary course was in a classroom. It changed how I think about a food stop, and gave me the line I still use with guests: behind the food, there are always people.
Why I trained as a culinary tour guide in Israel
I love food, and somewhere along the years it became a bigger part of my tours. So I took Israel’s only culinary tourism course for guides. Here’s why, and what’s coming.
The Israel tour guide exam, Part Two: the oral exam
The oral exam is the final stage in qualifying as a licensed Israel tour guide; here are the questions I can remember being asked, covering my itinerary, the Hermon, Jerusalem itineraries and a few curveballs.
I passed!!
After two years of study, an oral exam in front of four senior guides, and the wait for results, the verdict came in a single Hebrew word: 'avarta' (you have passed).
The Israel tour guide exam, Part One: the written exam Part B (summer 2014)
The actual Part B paper from my written tour-guide exam: a three-hour itinerary marathon where you build a two-day tour for one of three groups – synagogues, Crusader pilgrimage or human heritage in the South.
The Israel tour guide exam, Part One: the written exam Part A (summer 2014)
How the Israeli Ministry of Tourism's written tour-guide exam works: 50 multiple-choice questions on Part A, a three-hour itinerary marathon on Part B, with a 65% pass mark.
Just testing…
I swore off exams after graduating. The tour guide course had me sitting more tests than my entire degree: a written exam after every subject, then mid-term and final exams before the Ministry of Tourism's national exams could even begin.
In the Classroom
Although the blog has mostly tracked our weekly field trips, the tour guide course also involved a huge amount of classroom time. Here's what we actually had to study: history, geography, the main religions, contemporary Israel and the practical side of guiding.
Looking back – the video
With studies done and exams looming, the course gathered for a mesibat siyum (final party). One of our group had stitched together a slideshow of the past year and a half — touching, amusing, mostly in Hebrew.
Jerusalem: a summary and a conclusion
The final field trip of the course: a day around Jerusalem taking in the tomb of the prophet Samuel at Nabi Samuel, the Jaffa Gate, the Tower of David, Christ Church, a walk along the Old City ramparts, and Nachlaot and the Machane Yehuda market, before reflecting back on the past year and a half.
If you are going to Israel, you would be mad not to give him a call.
Amol Rajan, BBC presenter and broadcaster
Having been on trips in Israel with seven different tour guides, Samuel stood above all the rest.
Seasoned Israel traveller
Samuel is one part walking encyclopedia, one part storyteller, one part stand-up comedian.
Berkeley Haas Business School student