The different body language between China and America
When a Chinese converse with an American friend of the opposite sex, would it be indecent to looking at the other person?
An American says, “yes”, while lowering the eyes. Dose he really mean “yes”?
If two young Chinese friends of the same sex walk with their arms around each other’s shoulder or hold hands, would English-speaking people regard this as proper?
These are not questions about language, but about body language, about nonverbal communication.
The Chinese that says, “Yes”, while lowering the eyes may mean, “No”, because sometimes they feel reluctant to disrupt the harmony of the relationship by directly saying so(for example, when father ask you to do something which you don’t like, you may also say “Yes” in order to keep the harmonious relation with Dad). In the mainstream American culture, the folded arms of resolve, the grimace of pain or anger, the hand wringing of anxiety, are powerful communicators of emotions. When people are sad, crying may be more suitable than words to express it. Think about how much more convinced you are, for example, that a group of children are excited when they jump up and down than if they simply state, “ We are very excited.”
According to the above description, we can see that body language diverse in different cultures, so does it used in expressing emotional feelings.
