We talked this week in my presentation class about using gestures.
English is an interesting language to learn since there are some ways for English speakers to increase their ability to be understood, strengthen the message, add meanings, and keep attention and interest.
Gestures can help you do all of those things.
You might think at least some gestures would be universal, if not most gestures. However, this isn’t the case. There are some pretty famous and well-known gestures and gaffs, but there are also some smaller, lesser known ones as well.
Just to give a few examples:
Koreans often use a “brushing off” gesture to mean “It’s okay, or I don’t need anything.” This is tough on instructors from the US in particular where this gesture is usually used to shew off mosquitoes or pesky pets.
Reverse peace signs or the V for victory when done with palm turned in is pretty much the middle finger to people in Australia.
The “OK” symbol in Japan is the sign for money. Not a problem maybe, but not the meaning you think it has. Picture this conversation: Hey, you have the money? You flash back, “Ok.” You are probably going to get the bill. 😉
If you are a teacher and want a fun little exercise you can try this: Make a list of 5 words. Mix them up, some nouns, some adjectives, some verbs. Let the students create as short a story as possible using all 5 of the words. Then have them share their short stories along with appropriate gestures.
We started off with:
- Go
- Tall
- up
- heart
- opposite
It isn’t necessary to use vocabulary that is difficult or new to the students but you can if you’d like.
The next step is to let students choose 5 words of their own to create a story with gestures to share.
It was really fun, and interesting, and I hope helpful!