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Body language is the unspoken communication of thoughts, opinions, and feelings through non-verbal cues. It’s a significant component of human interaction that complements spoken language, spices up conversations, and helps us decipher complex emotions and intents.
Body language is primarily expressed through six different modes:
According to UCLA body language expert Albert Mehrabian, 55% of communication in a face-to-face conversation is non-verbal. Another 38% is vocal (based on the speaker’s pitch and intonation), while only 7% of the meaning in any conversation is conveyed by words.
Even though most body language is conveyed subconsciously, it still makes up a huge part of our social and psychological patterns. Because it’s body language that helps us make a good impression, for instance, or strike a friendship, and detect dishonesty.
Even though some body language expressions are universal, like a smile or a frown, there are huge cultural variations in how people express themselves non-verbally. As we will learn further down, a gesture or expression considered polite in one culture could be deemed highly disrespectful or rude in the next.
As global citizens, it’s important we understand the nuances of body language in different cultures and adjust our behavior accordingly. In this article, we focus on the differences in body language between Latin America and the US.
People unconsciously structure the space around them in public and private settings. It’s the extent of this ‘body bubble’ - the personal space people maintain during interactions - that varies between cultures.
For the average American, personal space is between 18 and 33 inches in business and social settings. Come any closer and people might consider that an invasion of their personal space and end up feeling uncomfortable or even threatened in certain situations.
It’s a completely different story for Latin Americans, who come from a ‘high-contact culture’. Their idea of personal space is considerably smaller compared to Americans - between 8 and 18 inches.
As a result, any physical interaction between an American and a Latin American unaware of these body language differences can quickly turn awkward. The American may feel the Latin American is coming too close and step back, while the latter may feel the former is being unfriendly or stand-offish.
Facial expressions are a universal language, but they can be perceived differently across cultures.
Most Americans, for instance, will generally never smile in a formal or serious setting, like in the office, in a classroom, or at a place of worship.
Latin Americans, on the other hand, use the smile frequently to replace common verbal expressions, like ‘Hi, how are you?’. A shopkeeper, to take another example, will just smile instead of asking ‘May I help you?’.
Here’s another point of difference between the two cultures.
An American will invariably use a hand gesture to point someone in a particular direction (‘go this way’, for instance) or to indicate a person or thing (instead of saying ‘there’ or ‘that’).
Latin Americans, on the other hand, use facial expressions to convey the same.
They use puckered lips to point out people, objects, and directions. It’s their way of saying ‘that guy’, or ‘this door’, or ‘that way’. For most Americans, that may seem like blowing a kiss.
This is a body language difference that can lead to serious misinterpretations on both sides, especially in formal settings.
Americans are hardwired to maintain steady eye contact throughout a conversation. For them, it’s a sign of integrity, confidence, and truthfulness.
Latin Americans, meanwhile, will look the person they are talking to in the eye, but only briefly. They will then let their eyes loiter while continuing the conversation.
That’s because prolonged eye contact in Latin American cultures is taken as a sign of either distrust, confrontation, or romantic interest.
Ignorance of these differences can lead to all kinds of misunderstandings and misapprehensions. Just consider a scenario where an American is interviewing a Latin American for a job.
The American will most likely read the candidate’s lack of constant eye contact as being evasive, deceitful, or unconfident. The Latin American, on his part, may end up misreading the interviewer’s intent gaze as disapproval, mistrust, or worse, unsolicited attention.
Physical contact among Americans is comparatively limited, even in friend and family circles. In formal and business settings, it is almost completely absent except for the handshake.
Hugging, kissing, and patting, on the other hand, are quite the norm among Latin Americans. Men frequently hug and put their hands on each other’s shoulders while conversing, while it’s common among women to kiss each other on the cheeks when meeting and holding hands while talking.
Americans unfamiliar with the cultural mores of their southern neighbors can find these forms of physical contact inappropriate and even insulting in social and formal settings. On the flip side, Latin Americans find the lack of physical contact and reserved attitude among Americans cold and distant.
People in both groups must familiarize themselves with the body language differences of each other to avoid misjudgments.
When then US President Richard Nixon visited Brazil in the 1950s, he famously flashed the ‘ok sign’ to a waiting crowd in Rio de Janeiro, only to be showered with loud boos.
That was because the ok sign 👌(formed by joining the tips of the thumb and index finger in a circle with the other fingers outstretched) doesn’t mean the same thing in all cultures. While it’s near-universally understood as ‘everything is alright’, the ok sign is a rude insult with sexual undertones in Latin America.
It’s the same with the ‘horn fingers’ sign🤘(index and pinky fingers extended), commonly used by heavy metal fans to say something like ‘rock on’ or ‘good times’. People in many Latin American countries, on the other hand, use that sign to ward off evil or to indicate a wife’s infidelity.
As President Nixon learned the hard way, using hand gestures in the wrong cultural context can prove disastrous.
The tone of voice refers to the way a person alters his speech to convey different attitudes, emotions, and meanings. It’s what helps the listener gauge the speaker’s mood, perspective, and personality.
Americans and Latin Americans have very different speech patterns in terms of pitch (the relative highness or lowness of voice) and intonation (the way a voice rises and falls during conversation). These differences typically carry over even when Americans speak Spanish, and vice versa.
Spanish is a language with very little variation in intonation, making it appear flat to Americans. As such, it can come across as drab, monotonous, and somewhat devoid of emotions.
In American English, however, pitch and intonation vary widely. That makes for highly animated conversations where context and meaning are conveyed more subtly. As a result, it can be hard for Latin Americans to understand the non-verbal cues in an American’s speech patterns.
You’re not really fluent in a language unless you master its idioms, colloquial expressions, and body language. That’s true of every language, be it Italian, Japanese, Swahili, or English.
At Immigo, we help non-English speakers achieve native-level proficiency within months through our structured learning process.
Our customized courses are designed not just to improve fluency but also to help learners familiarize themselves with the unique expressions and cultural attributes of the English language.
Reach out to us today to explore our learning plans.
