Exercises
1. Why is nonverbal language such a fertile field for miscommunication?
2. What is the difference between the distances at which Americans and Russians commonly stand when talking to each other?
3. How do Americans and Russians react towards silences in conversation?
4. What is the difference in American and Russian attitudes toward smiling? Toward staring at people?
5. How do Americans and Russians differ in terms of crying or showing their feelings at an event such as a funeral?
6. How does an American feel if a woman offers him a “limp paw”? What is this called in English?
7. How do Russians and Americans differ in terms of embraces on meeting and parting?
8. Explain the meaning of the following American gestures:
a) The index finger and thumb are joined to form a circle.
b) Wiping the hand across the forehead.
c) Third finger is crossed over the index finger.
d) The palm is raised and moved back and forth sideways.
9. What is the difference between the way Russians and Americans count on their fingers?
10. Why do Americans find the gesture of shaking the index finger up and down offensive?
11. Discuss three other gestures which Americans may not understand or find insulting.
12. How is the American approach of “positive thinking” shown in the attitude toward the Russian gestures «развести руками» or «опустить руки»?
13. Write a dialogue in English showing what took place in the courtroom between the woman insisting that her neighbor wanted to kill her, the emigre banging the garbage can lid, and the professor explaining the meaning of the gesture «провести рукой по горлу».
notes
