Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication plays an important role in our daily lives. According to a research conducted in the US, in the sense of communicating attitudes, 93 percent of the message was expressed by the tone of the voice and by facial expressions. Nonverbal communication varies in different cultures. Nonverbal communication like gestures, eye contact, and body space is quite different in Chinese culture compare to those I have seen in the US.
The first difference I found between Chinese nonverbal communication and American nonverbal communication is gestures. A typical example would be the way of expressing numbers in these two cultures. In Chinese culture, we can show numbers from one to nine simply using one hand. The Chinese way of showing one, two, three, four, and five is the same as the American way; but we have very special way of showing six, seven, eight, and nine. For expressing six, Chinese people use the thumb and the little finger together to show the number. The shape of this gesture is like an ox horn. Americans usually use the first finger of one hand and five fingers of the other hand to show it. The Chinese way of expressing seven is relatively complex. Chinese people put the first and the middle finger on the inner side of the thumb while curving the ring finger and the little finger. It is interesting, isn’t it?
Talking about eye contact, the difference in the two cultures is evident. In China, people tend to avoid eye contact when they are talking with each other. Traditional culture has a huge influence on people’s behaviors. Men and women looking at each others’ eyes is a sign of expressing love in ancient China. Many Chinese people feel nervous when looking into each other for a while. Nonetheless, Americans feel very comfortable about eye contact. Since I came to America a year ago, all my teachers were encouraging me to have more eye contact when giving a presentation.

Culture Impact on Individuals

Culture has a huge impact on people who live in certain society. How people behave in public varies with different cultures. As you know, China has more than five thousand years civilization. During this long period of time, Chinese people developed a philosophy of what we called middle-of-the-road policy. We tends not to show too much of our personal opinion in front of public. The reason is that in Chinese culture, conflicts and arguments should be avoided as many as possible. To conceal your own emotion is the best way to achieve this philosophy. In Chinese culture, people barely show too much of their emotions, especially negative emotions. For example, if an award ceremony happens in China, winners may not look as happy and excited as they truly feel; nominees who do not win the award may not seem sad even though they are very disappointed. In old times, Chinese people are not allowed to kiss, hold hands, or hug in public before marriage. Actually there were no concrete laws or rules that forbid people from being demonstrative, but it was tradition that made people feel embarrassed to do those things in public. Nevertheless, Chinese society has changed significantly over years due to globalization. Chinese people especially young generations are more demonstrative.

Difference of Language

Language is one of the most significant elements of human civilization. It has been playing an important role in people’s lives for thousands of years. Numerous information is carried by language so that people could communicate with each other for all sorts of purpose. Since language has such a deep connection with human activities, it is also being affected by the change of human society. Language itself may have many variations due to the difference of occasions and the difference of culture background.
Along with time passing, language has very distinct changes. One example is the way of greeting by two different generations in Chinese oral language. Among the generation of Chinese speakers like my parents, the opening sentence of greeting would very often to be “Have you eat already?” The deeper reason they are used to ask this question is that their parents and some of their contemporaries had experienced the so called Three Years of Natural Disasters in China. During the year of 1959 and 1961, because of poor economic policies and series of natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods, nationwide famine occurred in China. Most civilians could not even feed themselves at that time. Due to this special historical event, Chinese people were getting used to talking about daily meals as their way of greetings. Oppositely, my peers and I are living in much wealthier and happier environment than our parents, so that we do not have to worry about food. Naturally, we do not ask “Have you eat already?” when we met each other. Instead, we say “How’s going?” or just “Hello.” when greeting.
Generally speaking, people around me are the main effect of my language when I am in a specific situation. In formal occasions, I have to be very respectful to elders; it is not permitted to call elders directly by their names. There are specific titles for elders in different ranges of age. Usually I will wish the elders long life and happy family. When I am in less formal situations like hangout with my friends, I do not have to concern about ages or social positions when talking to others. I can make jokes and call others by name.

Who I Am

I am Ruihua Tang from China. I was born in Nanjing; a beautiful and peaceful city in Southern China.Nanjing is not only the capital, but also the economic and cultural centre of Jiangsu Province. My hometown is famous for its wealthiness and terrific environment. I really enjoy doing sports with my free time. Among all kinds of sports, playing basketball is what I like most. I strongly recommend you guys to play basketball. You can get better fitness by playing basketball. Furthermore, you can also release stress that you get in daily life. When talking about sports, I have to mention the impact I got from my father. During his childhood, children were lack of entertainment. They did not have video games, even no TVs. So like many of his peers, my father chose to spend a large part of his free time doing sports. He won a lot of regional trophies when he was still in high school. My father taught me how to play badminton and table tennis. I really learnt a lot from him. My mother met my father when she was 25. My father was attracted by her because of her brightness and independence. They fall in love and got married a year later. They love each other very much and I hope it lasts forever.