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Without Words - Body Language - Number 1

© Sandra Linville

Words hold power for me. Words in all languages fascinate me. I enjoy hearing them and reading them. Sometimes after using a word or a phrase for a thousand times, I say it again and it strikes me as extraordinarily odd. I wonder why it is used, why it sounds so strange, who was the first to write or sound it out? Even the most mundane word can propel me toward these meandering questions.

Yet, with all their power, in all languages, words sometimes fall short. They become cliches, such as "fall short." Words can become too much. We are awash in words and they can hide what we really mean or feel. Sometimes I tire of words. I tire of writing them, saying them and listening to them.

At times, what can be better than a smile, a frown, a dramatic shrug, a narrowing of the eyes, a pointing finger, a slight nod or tilt of the head? Body language.

In this series of articles and essays or poetry for Suite101.com's Human Body event hosted by Kirk Johnson, I will explore how we communicate without words and contemplate the whole wide world of gestures - each culture has them and a gesture in one culture may mean something entirely different in another culture.

What do savvy sales people know about body language? Do we give away too much about ourselves with a widening of the eyes? Can you really tell what people are thinking simply by watching them? Have you watched television without the sound and just observed the body language? Do our bodies betray us when we fib?

Foreign films are one of my life's pleasures. But, please, no dubbing. What can they be thinking when they try to fit English (my first language) into a mouth speaking another language? It is just clunky. (That's another subject to write about in a later column.) The vocabulary and the body language don't match.

I am also well aware of my language shortcomings when I watch these films. I have studied both Spanish and French, but speak neither very well. But, I am very aware that I'm a flat-footed speaker in both languages. I just don't emote in either language. Growing up in western Kansas prepared me a bit for Spanish, but French? I don't think so.

Anyone who has ever studied a language other than their first language, knows it is more than vocabulary and grammar. One can't forget the body language, the rhythms of the native speakers.

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