communication without words

When you learn a foreign language you must learn more than just the vocabulary and the grammar . To communicate successfully in speech ,you must also learn the nonverbal language ,or “body language”, of that culture. “body language” is a term used to describe facial expressions, gestures, and other movements of the body that send massages. This means of communication is so important that we may actually say more with our movements than we do with words .
Speaking a foreign language is sometimes difficult because we understand the nonverbal signals of another culture ,or they may mean something very different from what they mean in our own culture .For example ,nodding the head up and down is a gesture that communicate a different parts of the world . In North America, it means “I agree.” In the Middle East, nodding the head down means “I agree.” and up means “I disagree .” In a conversation among Japanese ,it often simply means “I am listening .” One Japanese student in the United States learned the diffrence the hard way .While speaking with a salesman ,the student nodded his head politely to show that he was paying attention . The next day the salesman brought a new washing machine to the student’s apartment.
Eye contact is also very meaningful, but it, too, can mean different things in different countries. In some Spanish-speaking countries, children show respect to an old person by not looking directly into the person’s eyes during a conversation. In other countries, looking into a person’s eyes is expected. For example, if you don’t do it in the United States, people may think that you are afraid, embarrassed, or angry.
In many places in the world there are two basic gestures that are used to tell someone to come closer. In Asia, the sign is a wave of hand while curing the fingers downward, the same way that some North Americans wave good-bye to children. North Americans make almost the same gesture to tell someone to come closer, but they curl their fingers upward. Visitors to other countries must be aware of the difference or they may send the wrong message.
Although we rarely think about it, the distance that we stand from someone during a conversation is also an important part of communication. Generally, North Americans prefer more space than Latin American and people from the Middle East. At an international meeting a pair of diplomats may move slowly across a room as one of them tries to increase the personal conversation distance and the other tries to decrease it. The person who prefers more distance usually loss the fight when he finds himself with his back against the wall.
Although we spend many years leaning how to speak foreign language, misunderstandings can occur unless we also know the nonverbal language and the correct behavior of that culture. We are not really prepared to communicate in a foreign language unless we know whether to shake hand or bow, when to sit and

stand, and how to behave in an unfamiliar situations. Perhaps a fifth skill ought to be added to the four traditional communication skills of reading, writing, speaking, and listening: cultural awareness.