International Gestures

[crabstix]

I am attending an english camp for young adults next week and I have been given the topic 'international gestures.' The purpose is to make students aware that some gestures are not universal and may cause offense in some countries. I have 10 minutes to give an introduction to this topic.

In particular I want to compare Asian (mainly Thai) gestures to Western ones. I've heard that the the 'ok hand gesture' (forefinger touching the thumb making a circle) is rude in some cultures but means 'ok' in Thailand. The thumbs up gesture is supposed to be impolite in Australia but means 'great' or 'excellent' in Thailand. Can anyone give more interesting examples?

[mbkudu]

I guess you could teach them the one that is universal around the world.

[sensei]

The thumbs up gesture is supposed to be impolite in Australia but means 'great' or 'excellent' in Thailand. Can anyone give more interesting examples?

I often see p*ssed off kids pointing with their thumb with the hand tightly clenched...

I have a feeling that it's the Thai version of the middle finger up in the air...

[crabstix]

The thumbs up gesture is supposed to be impolite in Australia but means 'great' or 'excellent' in Thailand. Can anyone give more interesting examples?

I often see p*ssed off kids pointing with their thumb with the hand tightly clenched...

I have a feeling that it's the Thai version of the middle finger up in the air...

I've heard that means 'I hate you.'

[Sathip]

I am attending an english camp for young adults next week and I have been given the topic 'international gestures.' The purpose is to make students aware that some gestures are not universal and may cause offense in some countries. I have 10 minutes to give an introduction to this topic.

In particular I want to compare Asian (mainly Thai) gestures to Western ones. I've heard that the the 'ok hand gesture' (forefinger touching the thumb making a circle) is rude in some cultures but means 'ok' in Thailand. The thumbs up gesture is supposed to be impolite in Australia but means 'great' or 'excellent' in Thailand. Can anyone give more interesting examples?

Example : Forefinger touching the thumb making a circle means f.. you in Brazil and OK in Thailand, that's right.

[griser]

Actually thats a great subject to talk about. I would include all the NON RUDE gestures as well. for example. how do thais gesture to "come here" vs the western way and how that can cause confusion!

My favorite rude gesture story is about the the american who went into a English pub and asked the rough looking barman for two beer with two fingers! (knuckles pointing towards the barman) hehe

greg

[aussiestyle1983]

The thumbs up was ok to use in australia last time I was there (1 year ago)

It usually means "good job" or something positive like that.

[semper48]

The two fingered peace sign is universal, but the same sign with the back of your hand turned toward the other person means "up yours" in the UK. Churchill used it famously as the V for victory. But it seems to be purely negative in the UK now. Americans are quite oblivious to this, hence the asking the barman for 2 up yours.

[maccaroni man]

i have been told that the thumbs up in thailand means that you are angry and the little finger up is a sign of love or affection where in some cultures this can mean a small male member, also the holding of the index finger about an inch above the thumb in a horizontal manner can mean just a minute.

[toptuan]

I teach this topic every year in one of my Conversational English classes at the university.

If you'd like me to email a hand-out to you with teacher notes, please PM me. Nothing fancy, but does have about 30 gestures. I can also scan and email to you a page out of one of my textbooks that contains illustrations of gestures. Let me know.

[semper48]

Thumbs up in most languages means "ok", but in the universal language of scuba divers it means "I want to go up".

Just thought I´d get that one in.

[aussiestyle1983]

Also in the USA giving someone the "Moon" is very popular if you want to piss them off. You simply drop you pants and underware, grab your ass cheeks, and bend over, exposing your ass to them. A "full moon" is considered worse, to do this you need to pull your ass cheeks apart which will expose your ass hole whilst in the moon positing. Maybe your students would find this interesting? hahaha

[PeaceBlondie]

Another obvious difference is feet. I still tend to move something around on the floor; Thais consider that rude. Of course, you don't sit down and point your foot at a statue of the Lord Buddha.

Picking your nose.

Groping your crotch.

We demonstrated this once, to a class of provincial (very rural) Thai prathom teachers. The Thai matayom teacher started the lesson, and I walked in and did all the things that are cool for Westerners, like drinking a can of soda pop, pointing my feet, etc.

[Petch01]

Have a look at this site.

http://www.ooze.com/finger/html/foriegn.html

Petch01

[El Taco Loco]

Received! Much thanks.

I teach this topic every year in one of my Conversational English classes at the university.

If you'd like me to email a hand-out to you with teacher notes, please PM me. Nothing fancy, but does have about 30 gestures. I can also scan and email to you a page out of one of my textbooks that contains illustrations of gestures. Let me know.

[bina]

hitchhiking:

the thai wave a car down

americans thumb a ride

israelis point out with the index finger (thumbing is rude)

thai dont like fingers pointing at them i've noticed . americans seem to point fingers at people whilst talking (liking jabbing in the air to make a point etc)

also a lot of thai younger guys seem to do this thumb and pinkie up with rest of fingers down gesture i've seen it at parties when they are having a good time... like a sort of 'rocknroll' gesture. not sure where it came from.

in general, coming from a counry where everyone talks with their hands and gestures are as loud as their voices, i found thailand quiet, and not expressive when it came to hand gestures during speech.

[endure]

The two fingered peace sign is universal, but the same sign with the back of your hand turned toward the other person means "up yours" in the UK. Churchill used it famously as the V for victory. But it seems to be purely negative in the UK now. Americans are quite oblivious to this, hence the asking the barman for 2 up yours.

Legend says that the V sign dates back to the Battle of Crecy in 1346. The Welsh archers would give the V sign to their French enemies to show that they still had the two fingers necessary to draw their longbows.

[lilyum]

There's a nice book " do and dont's around the world " listing all differences of gesture from one continent to the other as well as country by country.

[leisurely]

In Italy, the hand gesture which has the two middle fingers (ring and middle) held down by the thumb means the horns of the cuckold, In Thailand I understand it means I love you - or at least it seemed to on the TRT party stickers one used to see around