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Nonverbal Communication
美国人的肢体语言
The boy and girl glance around the crowded room. Their eyes meet. Embarrassed, they look away. Nervously, they steal glances at each other, averting their eyes when they see the other one looking back. The boy acts cool, crossing his legs and affecting a casual air-even though his heart is beating wildly. The girl, obviously smitten herself, is afraid the boy will see her looking at him. A few seconds pass. He looks at her again. She starts to blush. He nervously looks at the ceiling and whistles softly to himself. They continue their cat-and-mouse game for a seemingly inter-minable period of time. Will they ever talk to each other?
那个男孩和女孩瞥视那拥挤的屋内。他们的视线相遇了。不好意思，又把视线挪开。惴惴不安地，他们互相偷看着，当发现对方也在回望自己时，又转移视线。男孩表现得很酷，交叉着双腿，装着一副漫不经心的样子--虽然他的心正狂野地跳动着；女孩，显然地已坠入情网，很怕男孩看到自己在看他。几秒钟过去了，他再度看她；她的脸红了起来。他紧张地看着天花板，自己轻吹着口哨。他们似乎没完没了地玩着这个猫捉老鼠的游戏。他们到底会不会交谈呢？
The fact is, they have already communicated a lot, without ever saying anything. Nonverbal elements form a major part of any communication interchange. Some people would say it's the most important part. According to one study, words convey only 7 percent of a person's message. Intonation and voice quality communicate 38 percent, and nonverbal cues transmit a whopping 55 percent. That means people pick up more from nonverbal communication than from the words a person says. When studying about a foreign culture then, it just makes sense to pay attention to how people use nonverbal cues.
事实上，他们没说一句就已经沟通过了。非语言之要素在任何形式的双向沟通中占了很重要的一部份。有些人会认为那是最重要的一部份。根据一项研究，言语只传达了百分之七的讯息。语调及音色传达了百分之三十八，而非语言的暗示传递了极大的百分之五十五。这就表示了人们从非语言沟通中领悟到的比从说出来的话语中的还多。所以，在研习一个外国文化时，注意人们如何使用非语言暗示是很有道理的。
Gestures comprise a major form of nonverbal communication. In contrast to sign language, used by deaf people to communicate elaborate messages, gestures function as visual icons which represent a single idea. But often these gestures are embarrassingly culture-bound. For example, when the Maoris of New Zealand stick out their tongue at someone, it is a sign of respect. When American schoolchildren make the same gesture, it means just the opposite. Also, Americans often indicate "OK" with their thumb and forefinger touching to form a circle. The same gesture means "money" to the Japanese, "zero" to the French and a vulgarity to Brazilians. For that reason, people in a foreign culture must use gestures with caution.
手势是非语言传达中很重要的一环。与聋人用来沟通复杂讯息所使用的手语不同的是，手势的功能就像是视觉上的图像，它代表的是单一的意念。而往往这些手势极受文化限制，甚至造成尴尬的误解。例如，当纽西兰的毛利人对某人伸舌头，这是尊敬的表象。当美国学童作同样的动作时，它表达的意思正好相反。还有，美国人通常用大拇指及食指环绕起一个圆圈表示「没问题」。同样的手势对日本人是「钱」的意思，对法国人是「零」的意思，对巴西人是极低俗的手势。因此，处在外国文化中的人必须小心地使用手势。
