Wat maak jy? Right now, you are probably thinking that I forgot to use spell check, but the reality is that this is another language. The language is called Afrikaans, and it is a language that I can speak little but understand quite a lot of. This phrase in a literal translation means “what make you?” in a proper sentence it would say “What are you doing?” I plan to show how through personal experience how speaking and being submerged into two different languages can change the way you can see and interact with the world. In this paper I will go over a few topics that will give a basic understanding of language, such as what language its self is, and what nonverbal communication does for us when we are communicating with others. First
…show more content…
Floyd defines nonverbal communication “as behaviors and characteristics that convey meaning without the use of words” (2011, p. 179). Some examples of nonverbal communication include facial expressions, body language, gestures, tone of voice, and the way people carry themselves. We are constantly taking note of nonverbal behaviors when we are talking to people. The nonverbal messages that people send out actual help us determine what they mean in their verbal message. One of the estimates in the book for how much we use nonverbal to get meaning from the message is 65 to 70 percent (Floyd, 2011, p, 181). With this much meaning coming from nonverbal communication, it is no wonder we tend to believe the nonverbal message of a person compared to the verbal message they tell …show more content…
I found it so interesting to see how much more polite people were to each other through the words that they had for strangers. One of things that was a nice change in this culture was how much chivalry that they showed their women and elders. They were constantly opening doors, standing when a women came in the room and removing their hats in the presence of a women. I also found that the words they used to refer to an elder than them, were very inclusive and polite words, for a man it was “Oom” which means uncle, for a woman it was “Tannie” which means Auntie. It was such a nice change, but one of the things that took me a long time to get used to especially with strangers was kissing goodbye. I am used to such a gesture to be one only used with grandparents or a romantic partner, but here I am with old men with big mustaches trying to give me a departing kiss. The nonverbal got from people by not doing this, was a lot of confusion, thankfully no one seemed offended. By the time I left South Africa, I would only do such a gesture with my family’s grandparents, uncle and my host father and mother. This was one of the most difficult things for me to deal with while in this culture.
Having spent time in a culture that is similar to the Midwestern culture I felt comfortable, but they still had nonverbal gestures that I was not used to that made me feel uncomfortable.
Floyd defines nonverbal communication “as behaviors and characteristics that convey meaning without the use of words” (2011, p. 179). Some examples of nonverbal communication include facial expressions, body language, gestures, tone of voice, and the way people carry themselves. We are constantly taking note of nonverbal behaviors when we are talking to people. The nonverbal messages that people send out actual help us determine what they mean in their verbal message. One of the estimates in the book for how much we use nonverbal to get meaning from the message is 65 to 70 percent (Floyd, 2011, p, 181). With this much meaning coming from nonverbal communication, it is no wonder we tend to believe the nonverbal message of a person compared to the verbal message they tell …show more content…
I found it so interesting to see how much more polite people were to each other through the words that they had for strangers. One of things that was a nice change in this culture was how much chivalry that they showed their women and elders. They were constantly opening doors, standing when a women came in the room and removing their hats in the presence of a women. I also found that the words they used to refer to an elder than them, were very inclusive and polite words, for a man it was “Oom” which means uncle, for a woman it was “Tannie” which means Auntie. It was such a nice change, but one of the things that took me a long time to get used to especially with strangers was kissing goodbye. I am used to such a gesture to be one only used with grandparents or a romantic partner, but here I am with old men with big mustaches trying to give me a departing kiss. The nonverbal got from people by not doing this, was a lot of confusion, thankfully no one seemed offended. By the time I left South Africa, I would only do such a gesture with my family’s grandparents, uncle and my host father and mother. This was one of the most difficult things for me to deal with while in this culture.
Having spent time in a culture that is similar to the Midwestern culture I felt comfortable, but they still had nonverbal gestures that I was not used to that made me feel uncomfortable.