Signs and foreign body language (Philippines example)

People who think that learning a foreign language involves mostly just vocabulary learning (or grammar) really don't understand the many levels of communication with foreign cultures that come into play. Reading different hand gestures and body language cues are one of these and something I discuss in today's video and blog post

[ocirnoraa]

Living in the US for 12 years, I totally forgotten those gestures. Thanks for the remind!

[irishpolyglot]

@ihcahieh Glad you liked it! :) I'll be here for one more month

[renatoscutube]

Very I love in particular, the Italian gestures...

[ihcahieh]

Wow Benny, you're good! The "asking for the bill" gesture is one of the most common, and probably the first that would come to mind if a foreigner asks me to teach him/her a unique Pinoy gesture, hehe. Until when are you staying here?

[JaimewissnerCreate]

You forgot the first one as well! That's also ASL for "I don't care/Doesn't matter"

[i.p.error]

very good observation there my friend.

[irishpolyglot]

@PaulSLambeth Why the quotation marks? Where's that from? As I said in the blog post in the Philippines to beckon you closer they "scoot" you in their direction with their palm down. Almost looks the opposite to what I am used to, so it feels like they are shooing me away at first.

[pinoyislander]

That's all correct sir. Perfect observation.

[ihcahieh]

@loki2504 -- You should come here too!

[mnsheep]

We point with our lips because a lot of adults say that pointing with fingers is bad. :)

[adohn]

be careful when people are pointing with their lips....the place in question could be very far compared to pointing with their finger, which could be nearby. :)

[adohn]

scooting someone with your palm up is offensive in the Philippines; it means you are demanding, or you are using your power, to summon someone towards you. scooting with your palm down is more polite, as it means you are asking someone to come to you.

[Gemini_mind]

I'm a Filipino but i dont have any idea what PaulSLambeth said. Yeah its gonna be rude but totally not gonna be a reason to be arrested or for a broken finger unless u did that to drunk people. Lol