RP159 Body Language Across Cultures

 RP159 Body Language Across Cultures

“Do you know where my father is?” Jady asked her friend Karen. “There,” Karen said, and pointed at Jady's father with her finger.

Jady turned to Karen and frowned. Then she walked away. She didn't speak to Karen much for the rest of the party. Karen couldn't understand what went wrong. That's because Karen forgot about body language.

We all know how difficult it can be to speak to people from other cultures. But there's also a language of movement called body language. For Karen from Canada, it was no problem to point at someone who is older than she is. But for Jady, it was very rude.

Different cultures have many different rules about body language. Kissing is one important example. In France and much of Europe, you should kiss new friends on one or both cheeks. But in India and much of the Middle East, a man kissing a woman in public would be shocking.

Think about how you treat little children. In many parts of the world, people often pat children on the head. But that would be unacceptable in most of Southeast Asia. You must also never show the soles of your feet in that part of the world, so you couldn't sit back at your desk with your feet up, as is okay in the United States.

When you listen to a story, do you look the storyteller in the eye? In the United States, you should from time to time. In the Middle East, it is normal to make eye contact for a long period of time. But in Japan and Korea, that would be rude.

Communication doesn't stop at our mouths. We use our whole bodies to communicate. Remember that there are as many rules for body language as for spoken language.