Cultural differences and body language - 6 Minute English 

Did you know that scientists say that cultural differences can influence the things that make us happy? Find out more with this episode of 6 Minute English: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-JjESWHykTJQ.html

Hi! In case somenoe needs it, I'm posting the transcript, already formatted. I took it from the video subtitles. --------------- Neil: Welcome to 6 Minute English. In this programme we bring you an expressive topic and six items of vocabulary. I'm Neil. Tim: And I'm Tim. So, we had an argument just before we started the show. Neil: We did, Tim. But no hard feelings? Tim: None. No hard feelings is something you say to somebody you have argued with to say you'd still like to be friends. We often fall out over silly things. Neil: Like who's going to introduce the show. Tim: Or who's going to choose the quiz question. Neil: But we understand each other. That's the important thing, isn't it? To fall out with somebody by the way, is another way of saying to argue or disagree with them. Did you know that you wave your arms around a lot when you're arguing, Tim? Tim: No, I didn't know I did that. Neil: That isn't very British. Tim: I know. Using gestures, or movements you make with your hands or your head to express what you are thinking of feeling is common in some countries but not in others. Then there are some movements, like shaking your head, which mostly means 'no' but in some countries can mean the opposite. Neil: That's right. In which country does shaking your head mean 'yes', Tim? Is it? a) Greece, b) Japan or c) Bulgaria? Tim: No idea. I'll guess Greece. I do know that in India people shake their heads to mean lots of different things. Neil: There are plenty of gestures you need to be careful with when you're meeting and greeting people from a culture that's different to your own, to avoid offending people or making an awkward faux pas. Tim: If you make a faux pas it means you say or do something embarrassing in a social situation. For example, our every day use of the thumbs-up signal might offend people from the Middle East. Neil: And to offend means to make somebody angry or upset. Tim: Let's hear now from Business Professor Erin Meyer talking about how easy it is to misunderstand why some people behave the way they do in everyday situations when we don't belong to the same culture. Professor Erin Meyer: A while ago I was in Dubai and one of my Emirati students was driving me home after a session and the car stopped at a light and she rolled down her window, and she started shouting at someone outside of the window. This guy was crossing the street with a big box of cloth. And he started shouting back, and she opened up the door, and they started gesticulating and shouting at one another. And I thought, wow, they're having a huge fight, I thought maybe he was going to hit her. And she got back in the car, and I said, well, what were you fighting about? And she said, 'Oh no, we weren't fighting, he was giving me directions to your hotel. And I thought that was a great example of how someone from another culture may misperceive or misunderstand something as a fight when in fact they were just being emotionally expressive. ' Neil: Gesticulating. What does that mean? Tim: It means what I was doing earlier! Waving your arms around to express what you're feeling. Neil: Erin Meyer was worried because her student and the man on the street were shouting and gesticulating at each other. She thought they were having a fight when in fact they were just being emotionally expressive. Tim: And expressive means showing what you think or feel. Neil: You were nodding in agreement, there, Tim. Which reminds me of our quiz question. In which country does shaking your head mean 'yes'? Is it? a) Greece, b) Japan or c) Bulgaria? Tim: I said Greece. Neil: That's the wrong answer I'm afraid. The right answer is Bulgaria. In some Southeastern European areas such as Bulgaria and southern Albania, shaking your head is used to indicate 'yes'. In those regions, nodding in fact means 'no' as well. Tim: OK, I hope I remember that next time I meet somebody from Southeastern Europe. OK, shall we look back at the words we learned today? Neil: No hard feelings is something you say to somebody you have argued with or beaten in a game or contest to say you'd still like to be friends. Tim: For example, I always get the quiz questions right, unlike you Neil. But no hard feelings, OK? Neil: That's not a very realistic example, Tim, But I'll let it go. Number two... to fall out with somebody means to argue or disagree with them. Tim: I fell out with my best friend at school. We didn't talk to each other for a whole week! Neil: That must've been a serious disagreement, Tim! What were you arguing about? Tim: I can't remember. It was a long time ago. Number three, a 'gesture' is a movement you make with your hands or head to express what you are thinking of feeling. Neil: She opened her arms wide in a gesture of welcome. Tim: Or the verb: 'I gestured to Neil that we only had one minute left to finish the show!' Neil: Is that true, Tim? You're nodding your head, but we should also quickly mention 'gesticulate' which means to make gestures with your hands or arms! Tim: A 'faux pas' is saying or doing something embarrassing in a social situation. For example, I committed a serious faux pas at a party last night that I'm too embarrassed to tell you about! Neil: Oh dear, Tim. I hope you didn't offend too many people - 'offend' is our next word and it means to make somebody angry or upset. Tim: Well, you've given us a good example already, Neil, so let's move on to the final word - 'expressive', which means showing what you think or feel. Neil: Tim has a very expressive face. Tim: Thanks! Another quick example - 'I waved my hand expressively to signal to Neil that it was time to finish the show. Neil: Taking my cue from Tim, that's all for today. But please remember to check out our Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and RU-vid pages. Both: Bye!

The series of 6 minutes of learning English helped me improve myself ❤️

I'm very happy everyday i have a chance to learn english from BBC, I know I'm already improved. THANK YOU! BBC for learning English.

I wish I could show you all guys my happy expressive face at the end of this amazing program!

Thank you BBC for all things Hard regard.

I am making progress every day, thank you !

Thank you BBC team

When I heard you saying ' faux pas' , I though that I was listening to another language then I looked it up in a dictionary to find out its origin and it was as I expected, a French word. In my country there are so many body gestures especially with our hands, head, eyes, nose, lips, and even eyebrows I think that globalization has helped people from different cultures understand each other more easily. So, nowadays you can see people, for example from the far east, are doing western gestures they have not been familiar with before and vice versa .

The best RU-vid program ever 😊😊😊

Long live the bbc and it's team members for your news service and 6 minutes English class to improve my English thanks a lot.

Thank you guys Soooooooooo much 💖

thanks bbc my note while listening Gestures such as waving hands, shaking heads to express emotions can be common in some countries but it can hard to find in some other countries. when we travel we have to be careful with our body language because it can have different meanings compared to what it is in our motherland. Therefore, to understand movement and gestures helps us to avoid awkward situations or faux pas Also, someone from another culture might misperceive or misunderstand that locals are fighting because they’re gesticulating when in fact they are just emotionally expressive

I unexpectedly see this channel this is a good channel for english learning.I am a beginner in english so I want to improve my english learning so I watch the podcast when I get time .In this podcast they say about gestures ,In India shaking head means to understand something but some people shaking head means not understand what others said.

THe voice is very clear, thank U so much

My English teacher sent me this.

I love your work there in BBC Learning English! only one thing, in Greece when we nod we mean "yes" as well :)

you will be always great... thank you.

This video is very useful to me. Thank you so much.

I'm Pakistani, and I love this RU-vid channel more than any other...

Thank you 😍😍

thanks you; i progress every day

很好，谢谢 BBC

Good video! This video gave us idea for thinking and respecting about different countries and their different culture. It is really interesting video! Thanks Neil n Tim.

thank you ,your voice is very well

This is best channel to learning english. It give huge chance for boosting our english base

thanks BBC team for your efforts, its normal when strange do any wrong gesture to people(different country) ,but stupid when people not excuse.

When Indian people nod their head , it means they say yes or they are agree but when they shake their head right-left, it means NO, Even you can observe their speed of nodding and shaking because how they are strong about particular that you will know it. By the way thank you so much. I feel I'm improving bit by bit

When someone travels to another country, you are in another completely different world even being the closest country, for example Nicaragua is one of the closest countries of Costa Rica and it has a lot of differents words between Costa Rica and Nicaragua, that represents our culture always is different even in the same continent. Everything changes our food, greetings, words, lifestyle, that is a good reason to research before travel to another country that for fixing our experience in another country.

Très utile! Merci.

U guys are the best

I really like this show . it's VERY useful

I could understand a lot more than usual. This topic is very useful, thanks : )

Thanks a lot

This series is very useful. I’ve heard a lot of words which are mentioned in this series when I listen to other English contents.

Thanks for ur time, its really useful to umprove english

Sometimes cultural differences can create misunderstanding which can lead to huge fight

you all are making my dream come true. Wish you all the best.

I love this show

Many thanks to BBC channel

Hello Lovely, I have a frustrating experience. Not knowing where to begin or hitting a plateau can feel demoralizing and make it hard to hit the books and study like you know you should…Having friends from other cultures makes me more creative. In fresh ways about space and how people create their own world and environment. It is best way to connect between creative thinking and cross-cultural relationships.

that was nice to know

Non-verbal communication (NVC) which involves gestures, para-language and physical distance is a fundamental component of societies' cultures since the dawn of the human history. Gestures, such as body language and facial expression could lead to awkward situations or turn to be offensive signals in others' cultures unless we raise a distinctive awareness of its usage in different communities. On the other hand, they enrich the communicative context beyond the spoken language; they help form vivid pictures of your feelings and ideas in the listeners' minds. With a few tweaks, a one gesture is worth a thousand words.

very clear

I like this program

Go ahead💓💓!.

Wow in this podcast I learn step by step about english speaking and new vocabulary, that befor i didn't know, and teach about Appreciate The differences that exist are unique and worthy of respect

i' am vietnamese :) hello everyone , thanks for great program!!!

I would like to thank you alot

Good programme

Thank you soo much👍👍👌👌I'm from Armenia..

great! keep on it please!

Thanks BBC guys. You are helping a lot.

Thank you so much That’s really helpful I’m Halim from Newcastle upon Tyne

Good, I like 6 minutes English videos... =D

This is the most useful way to listeners. Thanks

Thank you, for such a useful way of learning english👌💓👏👏👏

Very helpful video

Im learning english myself ....so I would like learn gramnar..above all ...tenses..please..thank you for everything..I loved your channel...grettings...from Mexico

Hello from Russia))))Your program is the best

Tim and Neil are the best ❤❤ love you guys ,your voices and accents are the most understnadable

I'm come from Vietnam, i glad to meet you. i think i need learner English communication daily

Thanks.

✌🏾I'm eager to go to Bulgaria

I LIKE BOTH OF YOUR BRITISH ENGLISH TOO AND MR TIM I LIKE YOUR VIDEOS TOO.

good

Thanx British

How amazing a show it is,it is my favorite show in RU-vid!

What I learnt from this video: - Verbs: Gesticulate, nod, offend - Nouns: Gesture :-0

good video

good for who want to learn english

I like this channel

Thumb up in the middle east is NOT offensive at all, opposite we, as I'm from the middle east, use it to show the other person that they have done or said something very good. cheers, Ahmad,

please can someone help with spelling the word means ; saying or doying somthing embarrassing in a social situation. mentioned ad the last part of first topic (cultural differences )

The most important is depend on you, not the environment or the methods

I¨m think that the culture fix in the mind ,possibilitys or barriers in the own life.Not only abour the gesture ,and the interpretation .There are differenr forms, shapes that you can see the reality whit strong dependens whit your original groups where you lives when you was child.

Hello from Albania 🇦🇱

I hope i'll make progress

👏👏👏👏👏

In my cutulture, when we head left and right,, indicate not accept but if head front and back,,, indicate yes.

Somebody, please write the English subtitle of this! I cant recognize each word!

Can you make some videos and lessons for lower levels please. I am a teacher and try to help my students do things out of class, but many have a lower level - and most of your lessons seem to be aimed at upper intermediate, or some intermediate. what about elementary levels or even beginner?

I am from albania, and shaking your head from right to left and vice versa means NO !

It's ok to use thumbs-up in my culture(middle east ) and it doesn't upsets or offends us I think you mintion something is wrong in your video about my culture Thank you

HAHA when I was in Bulgaria I was asking people if they can help me? LOL

India ❤

My love bbc

What is different between ‘shake head’ and ‘nood head’?

You not search for this video, your English teacher send it to you

What I understood was that gestures or expressions are a big way to communicate something, and you have to be carefull about this because if you don't know the manners in some countries, you can offend somebody. And I found interesting how the things change in different cultures, as the example of the teacher in Dubai who was thinking that her student was figthing with a guy but actually he was giving her directions, and that makes me thing how many people in Costa Rica "offend" a friend as a greeting or as way to say "I love you" probably foragners thinks that they are enemies haha but I guess that is quite important to know those things before to travel in a country, to avoid do something misrespectful or just understand that some actions are completely normal and you don't have to worry about

Where is Alice? :(

Maybe it's better to show the subtitles for beginner.Pls

Fall out with somebody Make a faux pas To offend làm ai đó tức giận hc buồn Offence (n) Misperceive bằng misunderstand Gesticulating thể hiện cx qua tay Emotionally espressive(adj) thể hiện cảm xúc No hard feelings cta chiến tranh nhg vẫn là b nhé

Please write down the words

thumb up is not an offensive move

why thisone no sub

Someone from Austria ??

Thanks.. Could you give me your page on the Instagram, please?

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 shouting for directions !!

since when thumps up is offended in the middle east