Cultural differences and body language - 6 Minute English

Neil: Welcome to 6 Minute English. In this

programme we bring you an expressive topic

and six items of vocabulary. I'm Neil.

Tim: And I'm Tim. So, we had an argument just before

we started the show.

Neil: We did, Tim. But no hard feelings?

Tim: None. No hard feelings is something you say

to somebody you have argued with to say you'd still like

to be friends. We often fall out

over silly things.

Neil: Like who's going to introduce the show.

Tim: Or who's going to choose the quiz question.

Neil: But we understand each other. That's the important

thing, isn't it? To fall out with somebody by the

way, is another way of saying to argue or disagree

with them. Did you know that you wave your arms

around a lot when you're arguing, Tim?

Tim: No, I didn't know I did that.

Neil: That isn't very British.

Tim: I know. Using gestures, or movements you make

with your hands or your head to express what you are

thinking of feeling is common in some

countries but not in others. Then there are

some movements, like shaking your head, which

mostly means 'no' but in some countries can mean the

opposite. Neil: That's right. In which country does

shaking your head mean 'yes', Tim? Is it?

a) Greece,

b) Japan or c) Bulgaria?

Tim: No idea. I'll guess Greece. I do know that

in India people shake their heads to mean

lots of different things.

Neil: There are plenty of gestures you need to be

careful with when you're meeting and greeting people

from a culture that's different to

your own, to avoid offending people or making an

awkward faux pas.

Tim: If you make a faux pas it means you say or

do something embarrassing in a social situation.

For example, our every day use of the thumbs-up

signal might offend people from the Middle East.

Neil: And to offend means to make somebody angry

or upset.

Tim: Let's hear now from Business Professor Erin

Meyer talking about how easy it is to misunderstand

why some people behave the way they do in everyday

situations when we don't belong to the same culture.

Professor Erin Meyer: A while ago I was in Dubai

and one of my Emirati

students was driving me home after a session and the

car stopped at a light and she rolled

down her window, and she started shouting at someone

outside of the window. This guy

was crossing the street with a big box of

cloth. And he started shouting back, and she

opened up the door, and they started gesticulating and

shouting at one another. And I thought,

wow, they're having a huge fight, I thought

maybe he was going to hit her. And she got

back in the car, and I said, well, what were you fighting

about? And she said, 'Oh no,

we weren't fighting, he was giving me directions to

your hotel. And I thought that was a great example of

how someone from another culture may misperceive or

misunderstand something as a fight when in fact they

were just being emotionally expressive. '

Neil: Gesticulating. What does that mean?

Tim: It means what I was doing earlier! Waving

your arms around to express what you're feeling.

Neil: Erin Meyer was worried because her student

and the man on the street were shouting and

gesticulating at each other. She thought they

were having a fight when in fact they were

just being emotionally expressive.

Tim: And expressive means showing what you think

or feel.

Neil: You were nodding in agreement, there, Tim.

Which reminds me of our quiz question. In which

country does shaking your head mean

'yes'? Is it? a) Greece, b) Japan or c) Bulgaria?

Tim: I said Greece.

Neil: That's the wrong answer I'm afraid. The right

answer is Bulgaria. In some Southeastern European

areas such as Bulgaria and southern Albania,

shaking your head is used to indicate 'yes'.

In those regions, nodding in fact means 'no'

as well.

Tim: OK, I hope I remember that next time I meet

somebody from Southeastern Europe.

OK, shall we look back at the words we learned today?

Neil: No hard feelings is something you say to

somebody you have argued with or

beaten in a game or contest to say you'd still like

to be friends.

Tim: For example, I always get the quiz questions

right, unlike you Neil. But no hard feelings, OK?

Neil: That's not a very realistic example, Tim,

But I'll let it go. Number two... to fall out

with somebody means to argue or disagree

with them.

Tim: I fell out with my best friend at school.

We didn't talk to each other for a whole week!

Neil: That must've been a serious disagreement,

Tim! What were you arguing about?

Tim: I can't remember. It was a long time ago.

Number three, a 'gesture' is a movement you make with

your hands or head to express what

you are thinking of feeling.

Neil: She opened her arms wide in a gesture

of welcome.

Tim: Or the verb: 'I gestured to Neil that we only

had one minute left to finish the show!'

Neil: Is that true, Tim? You're nodding your head,

but we should also quickly mention 'gesticulate' which

means to make gestures with your hands

or arms!

Tim: A 'faux pas' is saying or doing something

embarrassing in a social situation. For example, I

committed a serious faux pas at a party

last night that I'm too embarrassed to tell

you about!

Neil: Oh dear, Tim. I hope you didn't offend too

many people - 'offend' is our next word and it means to

make somebody angry or upset

Tim: Well, you've given us a good example already,

Neil, so let's move on to the final word - 'expressive',

which means showing what you think or feel.

Neil: Tim has a very expressive face.

Tim: Thanks! Another quick example - 'I waved my

hand expressively to signal to Neil that it

was time to finish the show.

Neil: Taking my cue from Tim, that's all for

today. But please remember to check out our Instagram,

Twitter, Facebook and YouTube pages.

Both: Bye!