Nonverbal Communication

It can be verbal or nonverbal. Verbal communication is speaking. Verbal communication can be dialect, or the telling of stories or traditions within a culture. Nonverbal communication is things such as body gestures and eye contact. Both verbal and nonverbal communication varies widely from culture to culture (Giger & Davidhizar, 2002).

What I find to be very common is the action of a thumbs up. While I was at work, instead of a thumbs up, I open my palm, to a high five signal. When I did this, the children responded just as if I did a thumbs up.

Eye contact is important in America and Europe, but it can be rude in most of Asian countries and in Africa. Closing your

It’s not only how we speak to people but it can also be reflected through our body language. We have to bear in mind that other people’s cultures may find some gestures offensive to them. Being respectful to their beliefs and cultures is important in maintaining positive relations. A raise of an eye brow or shrug of the shoulder can send the

For example as mentioned above high context cultures tend to leave the meaning of what they’re trying to say up to the recipient. However in low context cultures, such as America, they tend to cut straight to the point. Each culture has its own set of rules of how to communicate. In Goblin you notice how when you greet someone or leave a room you are expected to bow. Say someone coming from France to Korea is leaving a room and they don’t bow that would be considered rude. The person from France wasn’t trying to be rude they just didn’t know what was expected of them since they have never communicated with people from that culture

Non-verbal communication consists mainly of the things people do with their body language. There are times where words are expressed and non-verbal communication could help emphasize the message. A few examples of nonverbal communication are hand gestures eye contact, facial expressions as well as tone and volume. I was given this assignment to observe a situation and take note of the nonverbal communication that occurred. I also had to observe whether the non-verbals were able to execute the message and if the behavior was acceptable.

Idioms are not the only barrier between cultures social customs can also be a barrier in Australia it is very common for people to shake hands when meeting in other cultures touch by strangers is unwelcomed to avoid this research cultural customs and if unsure ask the person how they would like to be

People from parts of India shake their head from side to side to show agreement instead of nodding like Americans do. In some Australian Aboriginal cultures, looking an elder or person of higher rank than you in the eye is considered disrespectful. It's important to research cultural differences in body language prior to visiting or interacting with someone of a different culture.

I grew up here in the U.S.A and my parents from the U.S also. I live in an ethnically diverse community that the residents show a deeper understanding of their ancestry’s culture. The term of senses that I witness is sight and audio. Since on the daily basis I hear, people speak other languages such as Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Hindi, Arabic, French, and Japanese. In the term of sight, I see who are from Asian background bow to each, African American nod at each other when walking pass, and people just slight smiling at each other. From my culture since I am African American we really do not that many of greeting each other. We would slight nod or smile and make eye contact or for the males who do a doing the handshake and shoulder bump maneuver.

An example of this is that in the United States we find it alright to ask someone to come to us by pointing our finger and curling it toward us. In Japan they find it offensive to signal someone to come to them in this manner. Something as simple as a hug for which we do quite often in the US can be considered offensive in foreign countries. Weird right? Wow, I could get into a lot of trouble in countries like this because I am a hugger. When seeing friends out and about we tend to hug each other as a gesture of missing each other or love for one another. I never knew this because I have friends from these countries that would find it offensive, maybe they have become “Americanized”. Putting your hands in your pocket as many of us have done many, many, many times, this is found to be rude in several countries. I guess Alanis Morsette would be in trouble also (her song Hand in My Pocket HAHAHA). I can honestly say that I would also be considered rude because I have a bad habit of placing my hand or hands in my pocket. I have even been known to walk around with my hands in my pockets. So I guess I better stay away from places like Austria or the Netherlands. Next time you find yourself doing simple gestures such as these you may want to consider where you

A few for example, in some countries the two fingers up to make the peace sign and also the thumbs up sign can be considered rude. In some places, the ok sign that we use with our hand is considered a sign of the devil 666, but in France it means nothing as in zero and not ok or great. In some places can’t, huge men and women can’t huge each other if the opposite sex isn’t a family. In Haiti which is a French speaking country it is rude to shrug the shoulder when communicating with older people. The shrug of the shoulder is only use with your friends. Also, in Haiti kissing on the cheek like in France is for family friend I not greet that way it’s a sign that something with wrong in relationship between you and the person, and the men to men don’t kiss on the cheeks they will just shack hands.

In America, we don't take preference for either hand when doing activities and such although, its universally known to shake hands with your right hand. Either way, in other countries, specially the Middle East and different parts of Africa, it is frowned upon using you left hand because, you're only supposed to use your left hand for sanitary reasons (AKA going to the restroom or throwing out trash). Hence, if you greet someone with your left hand, touch them, or touch food its 'disgusting' and considered an insult in most cases. To add, in countries that have a high Buddhist population it is a sin to touch or pat someone on the head. It's a sin because it is believed that the head is sacred since it hold the spirit of the individual. With that being said, when you see a cute kid just acknowledging their adorableness and don't touch them or, they could get the wrong idea.

When it comes to a country’s culture some things that are considering acceptable in one place might not be seen as too acceptable in others. Simple gestures such as a handshake might be seen as offensive in different regions depending upon which hand you use. Regardless of what you are doing and where you are doing it, certain societies have certain norms they live by that must be followed in order to keep things balanced and in check. And when business is involved, you must make sure that you have obtained the proper etiquette knowledge for that region so that you can work with the natives and not offend their culture.

For most Americans a smile and verbal greeting are appropriate. In a business context, however, a firm handshake is used. Weak handshakes can be perceived as a sign of weakness. It is likely the handshake will be brief. Men usually wait for women to offer their hand before shaking. Also, direct eye contact is also appreciated.

In order to greet others Japanese bow to each other with a smile instead of shaking hands during the meetings. Male and female both use this way of greetings only. Direct eye contact is not favored rather they look below the chin while talking to someone especially towards the people seen as a “social superior”. Direct eye contact is considered as a rude gesture and disrespect of the listener.