Language Experiment

Language Experiment
Part 1
I found this experiment to be some what easy. The only difficult time I had was when I disagreed and could not really express myself in words. I tried this experiment on my husband and decided not to tell him what I was doing. I figured it would be more fun if he didn't know. He spoke about our son's football activities. When he gets into this mode it did not matter if I said a word or not. He went on and on and didn't even realize I hadn't said a word. When he would look to me to see if I was agreeing, I nodded my head, and he went on to talk more. He then made a statement about his decision on what team we would be going on. I shook my head to let him know that is not what I want to do. He asked me what do I mean " no "? All I could do was frown and shake my head. He kept asking me the same question and then he got frustrated. He told me why are you shaking your head if you aren't saying anything. Then he said since he didn't know what that meant he was done talking to me. Finally time was up and I was able to open my mouth and speak.
If we were meeting for the first time I would defiantly say the speaking culture have the advantage. It is easier for the speaking culture to express their thoughts thoroughly. They can describe what they are talking about and also add in their reasons. This culture, just like my husband may think that some thing is wrong with the other culture. The speaking culture may think the other person is rude or uneducated. The other culture which have difficulties speaking can be very frustrated that they are not being understood. I also believe that they can feel they have not been given a proper chance to express themselves. The non speaking culture may believe that the other culture thinks that they are better then them, which can cause some resentment. There is also a lot of misunderstanding that can take place in the conversation.

Part 2
For my second experiment I used my kids. I didn't need anything to get them started. As they started to ask me my first question I started my timing. I was able to last 15 minutes because they talked so much and answered some of their own questions it made it easy for me. Once they realize what I was doing, started to ask questions about why and I doing that and am I okay. They started laughing at me then they got close to my face. My little one lifted my eyes open and the others started picking up my hands and use it in a way they thought I would. It was pretty funny. I tried so hard not to laugh and use any facial expression but it was hard.
This experiment showed me that with sign language you can also express feelings and emotions. I didn't realize how much I use my hands and face when I talk. I felt I was being restraint when I wasn't able to use my body language. I don't know if there is anyone who can not read body language, since most of us have experienced it and use it.
 Being able to read body language is beneficial because it helps us to further more understand the feelings behind the words. I think our bodies are an extension of our soul. Our bodies react to what our brain is thinking and what our heart is feeling. Most of us, when we are in love with someone, we are affectionate towards them. We sometimes like to be close or hug and kiss them.
I believe it is beneficial to us if we could not read body language when someone is in a conversation with someone else. If we are outside looking at people talking and all we see is their body language, we may misunderstand what is being said. They may look our way and all of the sudden we assume they are taking about us. This can cause someone to be mad or confrontational or it could cause the person to be hurt.  There are many outcome from misunderstanding someones body language.

Part 3
If I was able to communicate by writing in my first experiment, it would have been easier. By writing down the reason I was shaking my head, my husband would have understood completely what I was trying to say, instead of getting upset and giving up on talking to me.
The advantage a culture would have by using this would be better understanding of one another. It provides a better communication tool. It eliminates a lot of frustration and misunderstanding. The culture would be able to relay messages. They could write letters to one another.
As far a globalization goes, we may speak different language around the world but written words helps us to understand each other. Letters represent a sound or a meaning, when we want to learn another language we can learn their written letters to understand and to speak their language. It also helps us to understand how we are different in the way we explain thing, and this can also help us to understand things that may be lost in translation. On final thing I believe to be very important is we all can have respect for each other and not think the other culture is less then us or uneducated.
Sayom M.