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Using gestures when words are unknown | ||
Tags: Gestures/Body Language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| kujichagulia Senior Member Japan Joined 4846 days ago 1031 posts - 1571 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Japanese, Portuguese | Message 1 of 10 20 October 2014 at 4:15am | IP Logged |
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(Before I begin, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong part of the forum, but I didn't know where to put this. This is a discussion of a technique, but this isn't a learning technique.)
Have you ever spoken to someone in your target language, and you wanted to say something, but found you forgot a word or haven't learned the word yet? (I see all of you nodding your heads, and also looking at one another as if to say, "What kind of stupid question is Kuji asking? Doesn't he know what kind of forum this is?") Let's say that, for some reason, you don't have a dictionary handy, and the other person doesn't know your language. How do you get your point across? The first thing I thought of was asking a question such as, "What is the thing that you ride to get from Italy to the United States?" if you can't remember the word for "airplane". However, some other words could fit there (boat, balloon, etc.). Then I thought about gestures. A person could use his/her hand and move it above his head to demonstrate an airplane flying. I use gestures in my native language when talking to people (sound effects, too), and I thought it could be a way to get one's point across in an L2 when one cannot look something up in a dictionary. But I also wonder if the other person will think I'm strange if I'm waving my hands around like a madman for communication. Your thoughts? * * * * One more thing... knowing this forum (hehehe), let me get some possible suggestions that I'm already aware of out of the way, since I want this to focus on the use of non-verbal communication: * Get a pocket-sized dictionary * Get a smartphone or tablet, download a dictionary or translation app, and carry it around * Don't speak until you know all the basic words. (Get a bunch of input, first.) Edited by kujichagulia on 20 October 2014 at 4:16am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| eyðimörk Triglot Senior Member France goo.gl/aT4FY7 Joined 4098 days ago 490 posts - 1158 votes Speaks: Swedish*, English, French Studies: Breton, Italian | Message 2 of 10 20 October 2014 at 9:13am | IP Logged |
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I have no objections. My only thought is really: is this something that's unusual enough that it needs a thread dedicated to it? I do this in my native language when I get impatient trying to find a word.
I haven't done it a lot in French, because I'm more patient with myself in French and can be bothered to explain the word I'm looking for. I also had a relatively large vocabulary when I had to start speaking French, so describing what I was going for was possible. Though growing up I've seen my mother do it a fair bit on holiday, once with embarrassingly racist connotations (she isn't actually racist) when trying to order sweet and sour sauce without knowing the words "douce" and "aigre"... after many failed attempts, including saying the words in several different languages, she pulled at the corners of her eyes and we instantly got sweet and sour sauce (and a laugh, rather than a glare, thankfully). 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Zireael Triglot Senior Member Poland Joined 4650 days ago 518 posts - 636 votes Speaks: Polish*, EnglishB2, Spanish Studies: German, Sign Language, Tok Pisin, Arabic (Yemeni), Old English | Message 3 of 10 20 October 2014 at 9:47am | IP Logged |
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I think using gestures is a thing people do in all languages, including their native one :D
1 person has voted this message useful | |
 Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6702 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 4 of 10 20 October 2014 at 9:56am | IP Logged |
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On some voyages I have brought a pocketsize language guide along, but I don't remember that I even once have found time to use it during a conversation. It may be alright for evening study, but not for the use it is supposed to cover. An electronic dictionary with a dictionary may be faster and less conspicuous, but personally I would assume the conversation had ended if the other person grabbed his/her phone and totally focused on it - how could I know that the reason was an unknown word? So in practice the solutions are gesturing, making drawings, language switch (maybe just for a few seconds), circumlocutions and partial collapse of the communication. Personally I would prefer circumlocutions, with drawing as the runner-up, but more dramatically inclined persons might use gestures instead.
1 person has voted this message useful | |
| rdearman Senior Member United Kingdom rdearman.orgRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5235 days ago 881 posts - 1812 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Italian, French, Mandarin | Message 5 of 10 20 October 2014 at 10:52am | IP Logged |
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Saw a brilliant commercial for a Nokia phone when they first put cameras on them. Guy waling around taking photos of taxies, toilets, trains, etc. Then next camera shot is him in Tokyo showing the toilet picture to some girls who then point him in the right direction.
4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Radioclare Triglot Senior Member United Kingdom timeofftakeoff.com Joined 4582 days ago 689 posts - 1119 votes Speaks: English*, German, Esperanto Studies: Croatian, Serbian, Macedonian | Message 6 of 10 20 October 2014 at 11:54am | IP Logged |
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When I went to Ukraine a few years ago, I desperately needed to buy some mosquito spray. I'd brought one of those plug-in mosquito deterrents with me, only to find that I didn't have any sockets in my room. I was there with my boyfriend and neither of us knew the word for mosquito in Russian or Ukrainian. We didn't have a dictionary and we didn't have access to the Internet where we were staying.
We went to a large hypermarket in the hope that we would be able to see the spray on the shelves and recognise it. We couldn't, but then we realised that there was a separate pharmacy bit where medicines etc were behind a counter with two ladies serving. We went over to the counter and asked whether they spoke any of the six languages in which between us we knew the word for mosquito, but of course they didn't. (We were in Ukraine for a week, and during that time we only met two people who spoke English.) I was about to give up and leave, when I turned round and realised that my boyfriend had started running around the shop with his arms outstretched going "buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"! It took me several seconds to realise he was trying to do an impression of a mosquito :D Miraculously, the ladies behind the counter seemed to realise straightaway and burst out laughing. One of them went over to a cabinet and produced three different types of mosquito repellent. "Komar", she said pointing at them. We nodded vigorously and bought all three, thanking her profusely :) It pretty much saved my holiday because I have quite a bad allergic reaction to mosquito bites and Kiev seemed to be full of them. So yes, I do think it is possible to successfully communicate using gestures when all else fails. I think you have to be careful though and bear in mind that a gesture which means one thing in your country may mean something entirely different or actually be offensive in another country. I spent years accidentally purchasing the wrong number of drinks in bars because I didn't realise that in lots of Europe people count from the thumb rather than from the index finger. In Croatia, you need to be careful if you hold up three fingers to order drinks as it could be interpreted as a gesture associated with Serbian nationalism. I'm sure there are lots of other examples. 4 persons have voted this message useful | |
| Iversen Super Polyglot Moderator Denmark berejst.dk Joined 6702 days ago 9078 posts - 16473 votes Speaks: Danish*, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Swedish, Esperanto, Romanian, Catalan Studies: Afrikaans, Greek, Norwegian, Russian, Serbian, Icelandic, Latin, Irish, Lowland Scots, Indonesian, Polish, Croatian Personal Language Map | Message 7 of 10 20 October 2014 at 2:27pm | IP Logged |
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When my mother and I participated in a grouptour through USSR in the late 80s, we defected from the group in Jerevan, Armenia. We wanted to visit the zoo and tried to ask a local person, but he didn't understand anything. Then I made a drawing of an elephant, and he pointed out in which direction we should walk, and we used gestures to get the approximate distance. But normally I succeed in getting the information I need through language.
By the way, the much beloved elephant of the Jerevan zoo had died several years before, but it had apparently left an indelible imprint on the memories of the Jerevanians. Edited by Iversen on 20 October 2014 at 2:31pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Serpent Octoglot Senior Member Russian Federation serpent-849.livejour Joined 6596 days ago 9753 posts - 15779 votes 4 sounds Speaks: Russian*, English, FinnishC1, Latin, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Studies: Danish, Romanian, Polish, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Croatian, Slovenian, Catalan, Czech, Galician, Dutch, Swedish | Message 8 of 10 20 October 2014 at 2:47pm | IP Logged |
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Can you give a specific example? I know how English people count but I'd think it only affects the shape of the gesture, with the number of the fingers staying the same?
1 person has voted this message useful |
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