When you travel, your body language can actually say a lot about where you’re from, even if you don’t realize it. For example, people from different countries use their fingers differently to count—some start with their thumb, while others begin with their pinky. Americans might wave differently or give a thumbs-up, which can mean something completely different in another country. Nodding or shaking your head doesn’t mean the same thing everywhere either; in some places, nodding can mean “no”! Gestures like pointing or making a circle with your fingers (like the “OK” sign) might be seen as rude in other cultures. So, being aware of these differences can help you avoid misunderstandings and connect better with people when you travel. Animation is created by Bright Side. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Music by Epidemic Sound https://www.epidemicsound.com Check our Bright Side podcast on Spotify and leave a positive review! https://open.spotify.com/show/0hUkPxD34jRLrMrJux4VxV Subscribe to Bright Side: https://goo.gl/rQTJZz ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brightside Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brightside.official TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@brightside.official?lang=en Stock materials (photos, footages and other): https://www.depositphotos.com https://www.shutterstock.com https://www.eastnews.ru ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more videos and articles visit: http://www.brightside.me
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Different cultures have unique ways of counting.
00:03For instance, in some parts of the world,
00:05people typically begin counting with their thumb and end with their pinky.
00:09In contrast, others start with their index finger and end with their thumb.
00:14Some people begin with their pinky
00:16and sometimes they can even start by extending their fingers in an open palm
00:20before drawing them in to form a closed fist.
00:23Alright, now let's take a little test counting from 1 to 5.
00:27You're gonna show me the numbers with your fingers
00:29and I'll tell you what culture your gestures belong to.
00:32Let's go!
00:42If you show it with your index finger,
00:43you're probably either from the US or from China
00:46because this gesture is typical in these countries.
00:49If you show 1 with your thumb,
00:51hey, what part of Europe are you from?
00:53In many European countries such as Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the UK,
00:59people use their thumbs to show 1.
01:02Hey, and what about number 2?
01:10If your number looks like V
01:12and you use your index and middle finger for that,
01:15you probably belong to the American or Chinese culture.
01:18If you use your index finger and a thumb,
01:21you're likely European.
01:24Number 3 is shown differently in various cultures too.
01:27While people in China and the US
01:29use ring, middle and index fingers to do that,
01:32people in Europe use their thumbs, index and middle fingers.
01:36For number 4, there are not so many options.
01:39People in different parts of the world
01:41use all fingers except for the thumb to show the number 4.
01:44Same with number 5, we just show all the fingers we have.
01:48But there's a unique place in the world
01:50where everything's a bit upside down.
01:53Nope, I'm not talking about Australia.
01:55When it comes to hand gestures,
01:57it's Japan that leaves us mind boggled.
02:00You see, while most people usually show their fingers
02:03to manifest a certain number,
02:05the Japanese do the opposite thing.
02:07The number they manifest is the number of fingers they bend.
02:11Look at this gesture.
02:13The only finger bent here is the thumb
02:15and it might be like 4 to you.
02:18For the Japanese, it's 1.
02:20And here you can see that a thumb and an index finger are bent,
02:23which means it's 2.
02:25Then you add a middle finger bent to show 3,
02:28a bent ring finger to show 4,
02:30and to show 5, all you need to do is to show your fist.
02:33Crazy!
02:35But it's not over.
02:37In India, people use the lines between finger segments to count,
02:41with each digit representing 4 numbers
02:43and the whole hand representing 20.
02:46In some Bantu-speaking regions of Eastern Africa,
02:49such as Tanzania,
02:51people use both hands symmetrically to count as much as possible.
02:55For example, they use the index, middle, and ring fingers
02:59of both hands to represent 6.
03:02Additionally, the northern Pame people of Mexico
03:05count on their knuckles,
03:07while the now extinct Yuki language in California
03:09use the spaces between the fingers for counting.
03:13Knowing how to count in different cultures is cool,
03:16but remember that at any time you visit a new country,
03:19you must be super cautious about your gestures.
03:22Something that may seem sweet and innocent in your culture
03:25may be terribly insulting in another culture.
03:28Like, is there anything bad about thumbs up?
03:31Turns out, it might mean a pretty nasty thing in Iran.
03:35Yeah, if you show thumbs up as a sign of appreciation there,
03:38you risk being misunderstood.
03:40However, most people will surely understand
03:43that you're just a tourist trying to be nice,
03:45so they won't hold a grudge against you.
03:48Pointing something with your index finger
03:50isn't really a sign of good manners,
03:52but in Malaysia, it's especially rude.
03:55So if you want to show something with your finger there,
03:57use your thumb, preferably the right thumb to play it safe.
04:01Be super careful when you want to ask someone
04:04to come up to you in Asia, especially in the Philippines.
04:08An innocent gesture like, come here,
04:10can be misinterpreted in Asia and even lead to an arrest
04:13if used to beckon someone in the Philippines.
04:16So you'd better use these gestures there for dogs only.
04:20Even looking at your watch may be easily misinterpreted
04:24depending on the country which you do that in.
04:27While it's okay to do that in Europe or the US,
04:30however, some people might still get offended.
04:32It's a big no in the Middle East.
04:34A conversation there must have its natural course,
04:37and you can't just abruptly end it in the middle
04:39if you're running out of time.
04:42Another innocent gesture that has the dark side
04:45is the OK sign.
04:47In English-speaking countries, people interpret it positively,
04:50but if you do that in Latin America or France,
04:53it will be extremely rude.
04:55People in New Zealand use this sign to indicate
04:58that someone is lazy, and in Australia,
05:00the OK sign means zero.
05:03Well, I'm not surprised.
05:06Even basic communication, like nodding for yes
05:09and shaking your head for no,
05:11can be reversed in certain regions.
05:14Gestures can mean separate things, notions, and reactions,
05:19but they make an important part of languages too.
05:22I'm speaking Italian.
05:24Sure thing there are more than enough words
05:27in this beautiful language to express whatever you want,
05:30but you can spice it up with some gestures.
05:32I mean, there are even emojis of Italian origin,
05:35like this one.
05:36By the way, do you know what it means?
05:38Seems like it gets misinterpreted on social media.
05:41Well, the pinched fingers mean,
05:43what do you want?
05:44Some extra meaning got added later,
05:46and today, people use it on social media
05:49to discuss anything Italian,
05:51or they can show that they're impressed by something
05:53by using this emoji too.
05:55In Italian, if you bring together the index finger
05:58of both hands and then tap them together,
06:01it means that you're talking about two people
06:03or even two things that get along.
06:05This one's pretty convenient, huh?
06:07Instead of saying you two are getting along,
06:09you can simply tap your fingers together.
06:12Also, the Italian gesture can help you substitute
06:15not only your emotions, but even nouns.
06:18Look here, this sign means money.
06:21Yeah, you can learn the Italian word soldi,
06:23which is money,
06:25but you can rub your thumb and index finger
06:27and middle finger together
06:28and get the very same meaning.
06:31So as you can see,
06:33gesturing can be pretty cool
06:34and help season your basic conversation.
06:37However, actions speak louder than words.
06:39Do you see what I'm driving at?
06:41Well, that gesture seasoning
06:43actually is something more important
06:45than what you say.
06:46According to research,
06:47about 80 to 90% of the idea you want to convey
06:50lies in the nonverbal part of it.
06:53Here's why the so-called body language
06:55is so important.
06:58Despite many cultural differences,
07:00facial expressions such as anger,
07:02happiness, sadness, disgust,
07:04surprise, and fear
07:06are universal throughout the world.
07:08However, nonverbal behaviors like eye contact
07:11can vary greatly between cultures.
07:14In the United States,
07:15eye contact is seen as respectful,
07:17but in some Middle Eastern and Asian cultures,
07:20it's avoided to prevent inappropriate romantic interest
07:23or social discomfort.
07:26So to understand people better,
07:28we need both to listen to them
07:30and to read their body language.
07:32There's even such a thing as EQ.
07:34Do not mix it up with IQ.
07:36EQ is emotional intelligence,
07:38and it's linked to the ability
07:40to read other people's body language
07:42and express yourself better.
07:45Some scientists claim
07:46that gestures can help increase the value
07:48of our message by 60%.
07:50So in case you're having a hard time
07:52trying to manifest something,
07:54you gotta try to introduce more gestures
07:56to your speaking routine.
07:58There was an experiment evaluating TED Talkers.
08:01The least popular ones had 272 hand gestures
08:04during the 18-minute talk.
08:06Guess how many gestures
08:07the most popular speakers used?
08:09About 465.
08:11That's almost double.
08:13Yeah, it might seem that this number is super high
08:15and those people didn't stop waving their hands.
08:18I mean, 18 minutes is 1,080 seconds,
08:21and it turns out that they made a gesture
08:23almost every two seconds.
08:25But it worked.
08:27That's it for today.
08:28So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
08:30then give the video a like
08:31and share it with your friends.
08:33Or if you want more,
08:34just click on these videos
08:35and stay on the Bright Side.