Hand gestures

Different countries - different habits, say the Germans. And they are right.

One of the things one has to learn when moving to China or to any other country, is besides the language, the various hand signals and gestures. Some might be unknown, or might be offensive or have a different meaning.

As a multilingual and multicultural person and in my role as a language teacher, advise everybody to learn more than just the language. Speaking a foreign language means nothing. A language comes in a package with signals, gestures, culture, history, slang, music, etc. 

The Chinese however surprise me every day. Underneath you will see my private tutors hand indicating the numbers from one to ten. The Chinese have found a clever way to indicate ten numbers by using only one hand. 

                      One

                      Two, also known as the victory sign.

                     Three

                     Four

                     Five (that's five dear Greeks, and not an offensive gesture)

                      Six, which is also the sign for a telephone, mobile phone, or placing a call.

                      Seven (dear Italians, it's not your macche

                     Seven again, from a different angle.

                     Eight, and not a pistol sign.

                      Nine

                      Ten (in some countries it might be the symbol of brotherhoods)

                     There's no thumbs up in China. They use the Italian OK, which in countries like     Germany is highly offensive.

If you would like to read more by me, here are my novel and my diary from Ar'ar, in the northern Saudi desert. Both available on Amazon as soft and hard copy.