Choose one of the gestures below and mime it to your partner until they guess the meaning. Then take turns doing the same.
| Stop | Go away | Come here | Okay |
| Money/ Cash | (I’m) sad | Time out/ Take a break | Time up/ Stop speaking |
| (You are/ He is) crazy | (Waiter) the bill/ check (please) | Six | You |
| Me/ I | A drink | (A cup of) tea | Two |
| Peace | Victory | I don’t know | So-so |
| (I’m) stupid/ Stupid me! | Mind your own business/ Don’t interfere/ be nosy | A girl/ woman/ lady/ She | (You’re) late |
| I swear/ I promise | (They are) together | Zero/ Nought/ Nothing | A bribe/ A backhander/ Money under the table |
| (This is/ That was) delicious/ tasty | One more time/ Repeat | (It’s) great/ wonderful | (I) doubt (it)/ (I’m) not sure |
| Snob/ Superior/ Arrogant | Be quiet/ Shut up | Bad | Hi/ Hello |
| (Just) talk/ talkative | Yes | No | I hope/ I wish/ Good luck |
When your teacher stops you, share one gesture that was easy to guess and see if the class can easily guess it too.
Ask about any which you aren’t sure about, can think of two possible gestures for, etc, discussing the best gestures as a class each time.
Discuss how the gestures above (might) vary from vary to country.
Could any of the gestures you use be misunderstood or considered rude in another country?
What might these gestures mean in different countries?
Thumbs up
Thumbs down
Raising your eyebrows
Cutting your palm across your neck
Making a circle with your thumb and index finger
Pointing at someone with your index finger (first finger)
Put your index fingers together side by side
Show your index and middle finger
Point to your nose
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Ir would be great if there were accompanying pics of the different gestures – and which countries use which gestures and what they mean in these countries.
It would indeed, but with a full time teaching job and posting new worksheets and articles every month I doubt I’ll find time…
Some of that info is in my other gestures worksheets:
http://tefltastic.wordpress.com/worksheets/efl-cultural-training/gestures
and there’s also a good book on the topic:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Definitive-Book-Body-Language/dp/0553804723/ref=pd_sim_b_9?ie=UTF8&refRID=1XWWSTA8SRTDR4JYGB7H
And of course you could always rewrite it to just include the ones you know.
Thank you for these. Very helpful.