body language

[Scoobyqueen]

as title says

[Outofin]

A very interesting point. I totally agree.

I can only give an example of the other way. The Chinese don't shrug, but we do when speaking English.

There must be many body languages that I'm not even aware of.

[Senzhi]

I'm sorry, but I really don't agree.

I speak four languages fluently (+ 1 at intermediate level ... and no, it's not any of the Chinese ones).

I am still me, act like me, behave like me.

Not to say that it doesn't create it's own kind of difficulties internationally though ... even nationally.

Ah .. well ... even locally.

[zozzen]

the most confusing one to me is the gesture for numbers.

Take a look (link fixed)

The gesture for:

EIGHT in the mainland china is 7 in Hong Kong

SEVEN is similar to 0

TEN (shi, homophone to a stone in mandarin) means no number in hong kong.

I think the mainland way to express number makes a lot of sense, especially the gesture for TEN in which hong kong people tend to use both hands to express it.

What about other cultures?

P.S. I've cross checked the gestures with a local tea businessman in Yunnan. EIGHT is universal, but the gestures for 7, 9, 10 seems not.

When asked how to make SEVEN, he showed me a gesture for NINE in the picture.

What about NINE? He used both hands and raised up 9 fingers.

And TEN? He made a cross with two fingers, but he said he can get it when people use a fist to express TEN.

Edited July 22, 2009 at 03:59 AM by zozzen

[imron]

That link appears broken.

[gougou]

Interesting point. I certainly noticed myself saying different things in different languages, thus adapting different personalities based on content, but I don't think my body language changes a lot.

I would imagine that just speaking a language fluently is not enough for that to happen, as you can learn a language fluently from a book, but you would never know about body language that way. This kind of knowledge only can stem from cultural assimilation.

[heifeng]

For some reason whenever I watch 爱华 on any programming, I feel she has super-chinese body language & facial expressions, but it's hard to put a finger on exactly.

I think I developed a weird semi bow thing from living in China and hanging w/ Korean and Japanese students (or on second thought maybe this from being afraid to bump my head more often than is necessary, and practice reaching down to countertops in China...not really sure...). Also I don't really point w/ my fingers any more, mostly with my whole hand.

[Guest realmayo]

I found myself smiling/laughing when I was asked something awkward in class I didn't want to answer, I'm sure that wouldn't be my reaction in the west.

[zozzen]

i think of these:

- dramatically look left and right (顧左右) and say something awkwardly different (而言他) when asked about something embarrassed. For example, my friend makes it every time his girlfriend asks him how many girls he got laid before.

- dramatically pretend to apply hair wax in 50s James Dean's style (inspired by Stephen Chow) to shrug off embarrassing questions, but it may only be common among people in some circles. Not sure.

- open your mouth slowly, lay back a little bit, then close your mouth and nod your head very slowly. This series of gestures have to be done dramatically seriously so that everyone know you ONLY pretend to agree with the speaker, but you think what he says is weird and untrustworthy.

- women tend to stick palms together with fingers pointing the sky (合十) when they express the idea like "Thanks god!" and "Thanks ancestors!".

- slap the floor with one foot and stoop, with a painful facial expression when hearing a disastrous news. I guess men avoid doing this because it looks sissy.

- make lotus fingers (like this ) and throw it to the guy to express an idea like "oh come on!" with an exaggerating womanish tone.

[Scoobyqueen]

Zozzen - I really like those amusing examples.

The Chinese don't shrug, but we do when speaking English.

Have you ever seen the whole body shrug

[gato]

Like this: ? Why do you get offended?

[Scoobyqueen]

Gato - yes it is like that.

[zozzen]

Have you ever seen the whole body shrug that the French do? I wonder what the Chinese make of that. Eventhough I lived in France for a long time I am still kind of offended when it is used as a response to a question.

I won't be surprised that chinese don't take " " . Except for making a joke, this gesture is too explicit and exaggerating.

To express "who cares? " "I don't give a damn" , Chinese may turn their palms pointing up to the sky. Alternatively, they may shrug for 0.5 second, but i've never seen anyone to shake their heads at the same time. It's also impossible to lift up ONE nostril to express disdain to talk.

Btw, lifting TWO nostrils and holding lips in this way together means you're a pig or i'm a pig. If someone excitingly said, 'do you know that? American president is a black!", you'd possibly show this facial expression and so would he after he learned that everyone knew it except him.

But there's a note to add. The most scary body language for that meaning isn't shrug, but laugh without moving your facial muscles much. It's called 笑面虎 (Smiling tiger) or 皮笑肉不笑 (Skin laughs but muscles don't) . Thanks to the education from China movies in cn, hk and tw, this is a symbolic body language of a corrupted official, greedy landlord and cunning kungfu mentor who rapes a widom and fastens the accusation to his apprentice. We get used to taking this body gesture for fun, but I really experienced this once in a small county in Shenyang with a gov't official when he threatened to prosecute me for the sake of "national security" . I felt flattered by his claim that i had the power to overturn a nation, but It wasn't fun.

Edited July 22, 2009 at 05:24 PM by zozzen

[hidden12345]

Slightly non sequitur, but I absolutely love it whenever Chinese girls say 我 and touch their nose with their fingertip. HOT.

[Lugubert]

I understand the finger gestures for 1 trough 5, but I have never encountered anything else than making the same gestures with one hand and the "five" with the other hand for 6-10. 6-9 don't mean a thing to me, and I might understand the 10 as a threat.

I have seen the 6 gesture from a person of Asian origin - pointing the extended fingers towards mouth and ear to mean "make a telephone call".

[gougou]

6-9 don't mean a thing to me

They're pretty common in China though. Actually they're ingrained to the point that I have seen Chinese using them abroad, completely oblivious to the fact that the other person wouldn't have a clue what was going on.

As mentioned above, there are some variations though.

[count_zero]

Anyone noticed themselves picking up Chinese body language along with their vocab?

http://www.laphamsquarterly.org/essays/body-language.php?page=all

[hbuchtel]

I've picked up the 'poker face' (think CCTV 1 footage of government official at a meeting), which I use when I don't want to get involved with something, or I don't know how I should act. Quite useful!

Nice article, by the way.

[Scandinavian]

I sometimes when counting out loud use the hand to indicate. In Europe I would start with a closed hand, then extend one finger at a time, but when counting in China I will start with an open hand and then use the fingers on the other hand to bend one finger at a time, starting from the thumb, to go "one", "two", "three"

hbuchtel's mention of the poker face, I think I do that, however I have most likely used that prior to moving to China

[imron]

I sometimes when counting out loud use the hand to indicate.

I do this all the time, and often find myself throwing in the Chinese hand symbols for numbers 6-10 when saying those numbers too.