• Not all communication is verbal.spanish dancer image by timur1970 from Fotolia.com
  
  Not all communication is verbal. Much of the information is in the gestures and other nonverbal signals that people send almost unconsciously. These gestures vary from culture to culture. Spanish speakers use some of the same gestures as English speakers, but often the gestures have different meanings. The good news is that the gestures are the easiest part of a foreign language to learn.
  
  

Greeting and Touching

• When Spanish speakers meet, they almost always touch--especially if they know each other at all. Even family members and young friends will shake hands on every meeting. Men who know each other often hug, and if at least one of the people is female, "besitos" (little kisses) are exchanged--touching cheeks and small kissing sounds. If you watch an English-speaking couple have lunch in a restaurant, they will touch one or two times. If you watch a Spanish-speaking couple having lunch in a restaurant they usually will touch hundreds of times--almost constantly. The lack of touching makes Spanish speakers think that English speakers are cold and distant.
  
  

Hand Gestures

• The Spanish language is rich in hand gestures. Some of them are similar to English-language hand gestures, but often with different meanings. Making a circle with the index finger and thumb means "OK" for English speakers but "money" (looks like a coin) for Spanish speakers. The English "thumbs up" signal is seen by Spanish speakers of different countries to mean many things--none of them "Good" or "OK" and some of them insulting. The English way of gesturing "come here" (palm up and moving the index finger several times) signals romantic or sexual interest to Spanish speakers--they turn the palm down and move all the fingers together to signal "come here." When an English speaker wags his index finger while pointing up, it means "Don't" and is used by parents to scold children. When a Spanish speaker makes that gesture is simply means "no"--an emotionally neutral answer to a question.
  
  

Other Nonverbal Signals

• Spanish speakers smile a lot more and make a lot less eye contact when speaking to another person. This makes English speakers think that Spanish speakers are not serious and not to be trusted. It makes Spanish speakers think that English speakers are cold and threatening. In Spanish culture, a comfortable speaking distance is 6 to 18 inches from face to face. In English-speaking culture, it is 18 to 32 inches. You can watch English and Spanish speakers maneuver around the 18-inch distance, which is just on the edge of each person's comfort zone. Also, in Spanish-speaking cultures, it is considered rude to throw anything at another person. In English-speaking cultures, it is common--especially for young men--to toss small objects like keys or cigarette lighters.