00:00Different cultures have unique ways of counting.
00:03For instance, in some parts of the world,
00:05people typically begin counting with their thumb and end with their pinky.
00:09In contrast, others start with their index finger and end with their thumb.
00:14Some people begin with their pinky
00:16and sometimes they can even start by extending their fingers in an open palm
00:20before drawing them in to form a closed fist.
00:23Alright, now let's take a little test counting from 1 to 5.
00:27You're gonna show me the numbers with your fingers
00:29and I'll tell you what culture your gestures belong to.
00:32Let's go!
00:42If you show it with your index finger,
00:43you're probably either from the US or from China
00:46because this gesture is typical in these countries.
00:49If you show 1 with your thumb,
00:51hey, what part of Europe are you from?
00:53In many European countries such as Germany, Spain, France, Italy and the UK,
00:59people use their thumbs to show 1.
01:02Hey, and what about number 2?
01:10If your number looks like V
01:12and you use your index and middle finger for that,
01:15you probably belong to the American or Chinese culture.
01:18If you use your index finger and a thumb,
01:21you're likely European.
01:24Number 3 is shown differently in various cultures too.
01:27While people in China and the US
01:29use ring, middle and index fingers to do that,
01:32people in Europe use their thumbs, index and middle fingers.
01:36For number 4, there are not so many options.
01:39People in different parts of the world
01:41use all fingers except for the thumb to show the number 4.
01:44Same with number 5, we just show all the fingers we have.
01:48But there's a unique place in the world
01:50where everything's a bit upside down.
01:53Nope, I'm not talking about Australia.
01:55When it comes to hand gestures,
01:57it's Japan that leaves us mind boggled.
02:00You see, while most people usually show their fingers
02:03to manifest a certain number,
02:05the Japanese do the opposite thing.
02:07The number they manifest is the number of fingers they bend.
02:11Look at this gesture.
02:13The only finger bent here is the thumb
02:15and it might be like 4 to you.
02:18For the Japanese, it's 1.
02:20And here you can see that a thumb and an index finger are bent,
02:23which means it's 2.
02:25Then you add a middle finger bent to show 3,
02:28a bent ring finger to show 4,
02:30and to show 5, all you need to do is to show your fist.
02:33Crazy!
02:35But it's not over.
02:37In India, people use the lines between finger segments to count,
02:41with each digit representing 4 numbers
02:43and the whole hand representing 20.
02:46In some Bantu-speaking regions of Eastern Africa,
02:49such as Tanzania,
02:51people use both hands symmetrically to count as much as possible.
02:55For example, they use the index, middle, and ring fingers
02:59of both hands to represent 6.
03:02Additionally, the northern Pame people of Mexico
03:05count on their knuckles,
03:07while the now extinct Yuki language in California
03:09use the spaces between the fingers for counting.
03:13Knowing how to count in different cultures is cool,
03:16but remember that at any time you visit a new country,
03:19you must be super cautious about your gestures.
03:22Something that may seem sweet and innocent in your culture
03:25may be terribly insulting in another culture.
03:28Like, is there anything bad about thumbs up?
03:31Turns out, it might mean a pretty nasty thing in Iran.
03:35Yeah, if you show thumbs up as a sign of appreciation there,
03:38you risk being misunderstood.
03:40However, most people will surely understand
03:43that you're just a tourist trying to be nice,
03:45so they won't hold a grudge against you.
03:48Pointing something with your index finger
03:50isn't really a sign of good manners,
03:52but in Malaysia, it's especially rude.
03:55So if you want to show something with your finger there,
03:57use your thumb, preferably the right thumb to play it safe.
04:01Be super careful when you want to ask someone
04:04to come up to you in Asia, especially in the Philippines.
04:08An innocent gesture like, come here,
04:10can be misinterpreted in Asia and even lead to an arrest
04:13if used to beckon someone in the Philippines.
04:16So you'd better use these gestures there for dogs only.
04:20Even looking at your watch may be easily misinterpreted
04:24depending on the country which you do that in.
04:27While it's okay to do that in Europe or the US,
04:30however, some people might still get offended.
04:32It's a big no in the Middle East.
04:34A conversation there must have its natural course,
04:37and you can't just abruptly end it in the middle
04:39if you're running out of time.
04:42Another innocent gesture that has the dark side
04:45is the OK sign.
04:47In English-speaking countries, people interpret it positively,
04:50but if you do that in Latin America or France,
04:53it will be extremely rude.
04:55People in New Zealand use this sign to indicate
04:58that someone is lazy, and in Australia,
05:00the OK sign means zero.
05:03Well, I'm not surprised.
05:06Even basic communication, like nodding for yes
05:09and shaking your head for no,
05:11can be reversed in certain regions.
05:14Gestures can mean separate things, notions, and reactions,
05:19but they make an important part of languages too.
05:22I'm speaking Italian.
05:24Sure thing there are more than enough words
05:27in this beautiful language to express whatever you want,
05:30but you can spice it up with some gestures.
05:32I mean, there are even emojis of Italian origin,
05:35like this one.
05:36By the way, do you know what it means?
05:38Seems like it gets misinterpreted on social media.
05:41Well, the pinched fingers mean,
05:43what do you want?
05:44Some extra meaning got added later,
05:46and today, people use it on social media
05:49to discuss anything Italian,
05:51or they can show that they're impressed by something
05:53by using this emoji too.
05:55In Italian, if you bring together the index finger
05:58of both hands and then tap them together,
06:01it means that you're talking about two people
06:03or even two things that get along.
06:05This one's pretty convenient, huh?
06:07Instead of saying you two are getting along,
06:09you can simply tap your fingers together.
06:12Also, the Italian gesture can help you substitute
06:15not only your emotions, but even nouns.
06:18Look here, this sign means money.
06:21Yeah, you can learn the Italian word soldi,
06:23which is money,
06:25but you can rub your thumb and index finger
06:27and middle finger together
06:28and get the very same meaning.
06:31So as you can see,
06:33gesturing can be pretty cool
06:34and help season your basic conversation.
06:37However, actions speak louder than words.
06:39Do you see what I'm driving at?
06:41Well, that gesture seasoning
06:43actually is something more important
06:45than what you say.
06:46According to research,
06:47about 80 to 90% of the idea you want to convey
06:50lies in the nonverbal part of it.
06:53Here's why the so-called body language
06:55is so important.
06:58Despite many cultural differences,
07:00facial expressions such as anger,
07:02happiness, sadness, disgust,
07:04surprise, and fear
07:06are universal throughout the world.
07:08However, nonverbal behaviors like eye contact
07:11can vary greatly between cultures.
07:14In the United States,
07:15eye contact is seen as respectful,
07:17but in some Middle Eastern and Asian cultures,
07:20it's avoided to prevent inappropriate romantic interest
07:23or social discomfort.
07:26So to understand people better,
07:28we need both to listen to them
07:30and to read their body language.
07:32There's even such a thing as EQ.
07:34Do not mix it up with IQ.
07:36EQ is emotional intelligence,
07:38and it's linked to the ability
07:40to read other people's body language
07:42and express yourself better.
07:45Some scientists claim
07:46that gestures can help increase the value
07:48of our message by 60%.
07:50So in case you're having a hard time
07:52trying to manifest something,
07:54you gotta try to introduce more gestures
07:56to your speaking routine.
07:58There was an experiment evaluating TED Talkers.
08:01The least popular ones had 272 hand gestures
08:04during the 18-minute talk.
08:06Guess how many gestures
08:07the most popular speakers used?
08:09About 465.
08:11That's almost double.
08:13Yeah, it might seem that this number is super high
08:15and those people didn't stop waving their hands.
08:18I mean, 18 minutes is 1,080 seconds,
08:21and it turns out that they made a gesture
08:23almost every two seconds.
08:25But it worked.
08:27That's it for today.
08:28So hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
08:30then give the video a like
08:31and share it with your friends.
08:33Or if you want more,
08:34just click on these videos
08:35and stay on the Bright Side.
