{"id":50133,"date":"2021-02-01T01:15:00","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T01:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/127.0.0.1\/aee\/aee-1514-cross-cultural-gestures\/"},"modified":"2023-04-25T15:39:44","modified_gmt":"2023-04-25T15:39:44","slug":"aee-1514-cross-cultural-gestures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allearsenglish.com\/aee-1514-cross-cultural-gestures\/","title":{"rendered":"AEE 1514: Never Miss The Meaning Of A Cross-cultural Gesture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Have you ever witnessed people making gestures in other cultures? Having skills to do business and communicate cross-culturally will help you become more successful. You must be able to describe what a gesture means in your culture and ask about them in other cultures.<\/p>\n

Today we are going to talk about gestures, because this is a universal thing and can be specific to each culture.<\/p>\n

Though this is not a verbal aspect of communication, it\u2019s an important aspect of a culture to observe, understand, and be able to use properly. <\/p>\n

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We have a really interesting and unique question today about this. <\/p>\n

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Hi ladies, <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Thank you for the great podcast episodes, I always enjoy the positive vibe from your conversations! I hear that there are plenty of other podcasts that are mostly dark and sad. So your podcast has been something that I turn on when I want to feel good about the world. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m writing to you today to ask about translating or explaining gestures that are used by people from certain countries or cultures. For example, Japanese people click their tongues to show their frustration or unhappiness. I realize that I can\u2019t really translate into English, as such gestures are not very common outside of Japan (or east Asia). <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If I were talking to someone, I could probably explain, but it\u2019s not always that easy. What if I were translating the story or a part of novel that the characters make such gestures? I\u2019m interested in learning about this from you guys. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Again, thanks so much for the great shows. I hope you guys to keep up a good work. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sincerely, <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Kinya<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Breaking Down Gestures<\/strong><\/h3>\n

This is a great question, as gestures can be a bit confusing at times.<\/p>\n

Common gestures in the US can include things like thumbs up, time out, and putting your hands up to say stop.<\/p>\n

It sounds like Kinya in our example is speaking about more of a vocal gesture as well. <\/p>\n

I guess you could equate something like this to sighing perhaps?<\/p>\n

Actually, sometimes you may find that Americans click their tongues in this way as well\u2013so there may be some similarities to certain gestures.<\/p>\n

So in the example, Kinya wants to know what should be said when translating something within a gesture.<\/p>\n

So how do you work through this when there is some sort of gesture that is different from the culture it is being used in?<\/p>\n

This is a really interesting question because it focuses on something that we don\u2019t usually think about.<\/p>\n

Gestures are a form of communication, but they are nonverbal which makes it interesting.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to look at gestures, how to interpret them, what they can mean, and how to make this a part of your learning. <\/p>\n

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When Could This Help?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

When could this help our listeners overall? <\/p>\n

When might gestures be helpful or useful to you? <\/p>\n

You want to understand what sort of gestures are common, but you also want to understand when they may be useful as well. <\/p>\n