Language Blog Post

I decided to do this with my friend for 15 minutes for each. Being able to not talk in a conversation for 15 minutes was not as difficult as I thought because I was able to just stay quiet and hear everything the person said. I was able to not want to answer back because I was trying to stay focus on being silent. At first, the person was talking really slow, maybe because I was silent but then they gradually started talking normal but it was difficult for them to have to talk for 15 minutes straight. After 7 minutes the person got tired but kept going on until the 15 minutes were over, I was able to get they were finding it hard to be the only person talking. My friend managed to understand what if I agreed with her or not by the gesture but we were laughing at times. I did by accident says a few small words like “yea” or “no” but after a few minutes, I was able to retain myself and just use my body as language which at the end was not as bad as I thought it would be. If were two different cultures meeting for the first time, I would have the advantage because I am fluent in 3 languages (English, Spanish, ASL) and she only knows English so I would have the advantage when using hand gestures, body language and etc. People who are more fluent in different languages have the advantage and also would feel more dominant of the conversation because they would use all the skills they have learned from different languages. Many of my family members have come to America and find it hard learning a new language but they are able to communicate using their hand gesture and body language which helps them try to interact with individuals who do not have the same language.

I found this assignment to be very funny and difficult. I was not able to talk for15 minutes using only speech and not any physical movements or gestures. I was not aware of how much I use my facial, head, voice sound, and gestures when I talk until I had to not use it for 15 minutes. My friend was laughing the whole time because she said I looked a lifeless person just talking in one monotone. She said I sounded like the guy from the red eye commercial. I think I lasted about 5 minutes into the conversation because I couldn’t help but want to use my hands. This experiment shows that the use of “signs” is a part of how we talk day to day. It was so difficult not to use my hands in a simple conversation. Using our hands to talk is important because it shows our emotions. One language that is all about “signs” is ASL which is a community who uses only hand signals to talk to people which is very important when communicating. I think that there are people who may not know it or do not practice it a lot so they do find it hard understanding the body language. Understanding the body language is very beneficial because it helps you communicate with people who may not speak the same language as you so reading their body can help you communicate what they or you are trying to say. Blind people are the only people who do read body language because they cannot see what the person it doing or trying to say.