Communication happens on so many levels. Words, Eyes, Body, Mail, behavior online by simply clicking “like” on Facebook. It happens every day from waking up until going to sleep when saying good night. But in my opinion communication is underrated. People say they are bad at expressing themselves, they quickly switch to informal language and shorten everything they say with hashtags. We talk differently than 20 years ago and the World Wide Web is a big part of it. But communication is crucial to understand each other. Learning a new language gives you a key to the culture, because it reflects a big part of the culture itself. For example, in Japanese the word “I” is used less than in English or German, which I think reflects the importance of the groups rather than the individual.
One thing you don’t get taught when learning a new language is the body language. You have the stereotypical cold Scandinavian and on the other hand the kiss on the cheek giving South European. But besides cultural differences, body language in your own country is very important. It also has a huge effect on yourself, which Amy Cuddy reflects on in this talk on TED:
[ted id=1569]
I found this video very inspiring and added it to my list about communication. For more info also have a look at these people:
Paul Ekman – One of the leading scientists on microexpressions and body language. He states that the basic expressions are universal and has a lot of interesting insights on how we e.g. mask a lie!
Stefan Verra – This man startles you all over again when analysing you and your body language. He has a lot of knowledge about what you tell others when standing, sitting or behaving in a certain way.
