International Body Language
How is body language in the United States different from body language in your home country?
“There’s definitely a lot of differences. In (the) U.S., you keep eye contact no matter what, no matter who you’re talking to. In my country, there’s parts of the country where you need to be careful of that. Like you should lower your eyes when being blamed by parents.”
– Shakhnoza Yakubova
Obtaining her masters in
higher education from Kazakhstan.
“In my country, when girls see each other, they will kiss each other’s cheeks. That’s a general gesture to greet one another.”
– Marwa Ghumrawi
Sophomore biochemistry major
from Lebanon.
“Out of respect, you don’t look adults in the eye when you speak to them (in Lebanon). Here, I can just look you straight in the eye.”
– Safa Ghumrawi
Post secondary option
student from Lebanon.
“Generally, people in (the) U.S. think of body language too much. China, not so much. People here use body language so I can understand them. They use ‘the quote,’ they use the wave. Mostly, it’s to spice things up.”
– Dong Wang
Graduate computer
science major from China.