Using common gestures in British English

Hello, everybody.

Did you know

that between 70% and 93% of all communication is

actually non-verbal?

Yes, that’s right.

We actually communicate more

with the gestures we use than with language.

So in today’s

video I'm going to be showing you some common gestures here

in the UK and then testing you on what they mean.

You will have ten seconds to choose what you think

the gesture means,

before I then tell you and give you an example.

Before I do that,

if you haven't already, please don’t forget to subscribe

to the channel.

That way you'll never miss out on any of our great videos.

Also, don’t forget to comment with the answer to today’s

Greg’s Challenge,

with the question,

what informal word do I use as an alternative

for the word, friend?

But, anyway, without further delay,

let's move on to the gestures.

Gesture number one.

I want you to look at the following gesture and think,

does it mean to congratulate yourself,

or does it mean to laugh at yourself?

You’ve got ten seconds.

Of course, yes,

this gesture here means to congratulate yourself.

So imagine, for example,

you've just run your best time in a ten kilometre race.

Ten kilometres, three hours, smashed it.

Moving on to gesture number two.

Have a look at this gesture

and think, does it mean to take a break,

or does it mean well done?

Yes, of course,

this gesture here means to take a break.

So imagine, for example,

you're playing tennis and you want to stop

because you're really thirsty.

Here we are with gesture number three.

Have a look at the gesture and think,

does it mean to represent running out of time,

or does it mean to represent having lots of time?

Ten seconds.

Did you get it correct?

Of course you did.

Yes, this represents running out of time.

So, imagine, an example might be

you're going on a night out with your friends, you're ready,

but your friend isn't.

Mate, I really don't care if it's the blue, the pink,

or the green,

just put a shirt on, taxi’s here.

Here we go with number four.

Have a look at the gesture and think, does it mean so-so,

or does it mean unbalanced?

Take your pick.

I'm sure you had no problem with this one.

Of course, this means so-so.

An example might be,

where you’ve gone away for the weekend,

but the weekend wasn’t quite as good as it could have been.

Oh, my weekend?

Well, the hotel was lovely,

but my girlfriend left me actually.

Moving on to gesture number five.

Have a look at the gesture and think,

does it mean forget about it,

or does it mean one more time?

Take your pick.

The answer is

that this gesture means one more time.

A good example might be you're

at the gym doing some weights with your mates,

you're busting them out,

and you’ve planned to do ten reps,

but your mate does nine.

I said ten reps, not nine.

So, there we go,

some really useful gestures for you guys to try

out next time you're chatting in English.

As ever, before I go,

just another reminder to subscribe to the channel,

and, of course,

please don't forget to comment below with the answer

to today’s Greg’s Challenge.

In today’s video,

what informal word do I use as an alternative

for the word, friend?

So that's a wrap.

As always, it's been really great to see you,

thanks for stopping by,

and I’ll see you next time for more language fun.