嘉西亚先生是来自西班牙马德里的一位生意人，他正以英语和一位来自加拿大温哥华的客户派顿先生交谈。当他们交谈时，一位旁观者注意到当嘉西亚先生慢慢向派顿先生靠近时，派顿先生就慢慢往后退。整个对话过程就像在跳慢舞似的一进一退，直到派顿先生几乎要靠到墙壁了。这时候他把双臂交叉在胸前。派顿先生显得紧张并有些恼怒。嘉西亚先生注意到这个现象，以为他的英语表达能力不够好，但其实派顿先生完全了解他所说的话。嘉西亚先生认为这笔交易已经告吹，于是便找个借口离开了。

这到底是怎么一回事？假如嘉西亚先生或任何一位非英语系国家的生意人、学生、移民或观光客曾经留意过英语肢体语言的话，上述的不幸事件就可以避免。个人空间对英语系人士而言非常重要；的确，个人空间对所有语言而言都很重要，但是被视为事关交谈时舒适与否的距离在各种语言中均有差异。西班牙语系人士与人所保持的距离比较近，大约为30厘米，这样的距离是英语系人士所能接受距离的二分之一。因此，西班牙语系的人在和英语系人士交谈时，会很自然地靠近对方，而后者会很自然地因为想保持他喜欢的交谈距离而后退。

Body language is one kind of nonverbal communication, such as winking (to indicate "I'm kidding" or a sexual advance), or arms held akimbo (in some cultures, merely resting; in others, a threatening or defiant stance). This communication can, on occasion, be even more important than the actual words spoken.

Take winking for example. In most cases, English speakers will wink (the closing of only one eye) at each other to show that they are not serious about what they are saying. They may also cross their middle finger over their index finger to indicate the same thing. These gestures are extremely important as they virtually negate what the speaker says.

Another example is eye contact. In many American Indian and East Asian cultures, respect is shown by not looking directly into the eyes of a person considered of a higher social class than oneself. For Western Europeans, the opposite is true. For them, anything less than full eye contact is considered disrespectful or even devious. Problems have arisen when Chinese or Korean school children enter American or European schools. Western teachers assume that these children are "up to something" or that they are showing disrespect, when, in actuality, they are behaving correctly for their own culture. One Chinese child was denied entry into a gifted students' school because he was considered "lacking leadership qualities" despite his overall excellence in his academic and interpersonal relations. When it was pointed out that Chinese children are taught not to be aggressive (show leadership qualities), the school reconsidered and admitted the lad.

Sometimes gestures used in different languages have contrary meanings. This can produce a humorous effect. In Vietnam and China, the gesture for "come here" is quite similar to that of waving "good-bye" in English. Thus, when speakers of these two cultures are leaving each other, if the English speaker gestures "good-bye," the Far Eastern speaker may misinterpret the signal as meaning, "come back here."

Learning body gestures is rather difficult from textbooks. The best way to learn gestures —— for any language or culture —— is to stay a while in a foreign country to learn not only what people say but how they say it. For most people, the learning of body language is an exciting and charming aspect of learning a foreign language.