Language

• I found this experiment difficult. I found myself trying to say verbally what I wanted to say and I kept stopping. I could not get a pen and paper to explain to my partner what I was trying to tell them either. I felt so limited to my communication skills. It was just hard for me. My partner kept looking at me trying to figure out what I was trying to say and that made it harder for me because the confusion on her face. She kept asking "what", "I don't understand what you're trying to say", and "huh". She would repeat after me and I kept trying to tell her no and then explain what I was trying to say. If me and my partner were communicating for the first time from different cultures, I think she would have the upper hand just because she was able to talk and use her hands and write. Me on the other hand, I would be stuck and confused. I feel like the advantaged culture might have a curious attitude, like what is this creature trying to tell me, why can't they talk like me. Individuals in our culture that have difficulty speaking are the deaf. There is ways they can interact, like hand signals and lip-reading. I think it would only affect them if it just happened to them and they have to learn how to interact with people who can speak. If there was a baby born with it, then it is the parents jobs to teach them how to socially interact so they don't feel left out. I think it can have affects on the people who can interact by speaking just because it might frustrate them, they are trying to interact with someone who cannot interact like them. Others can be a lot more understanding and try to interact with them with hand signals or pen and paper.
• This part of the experiment was extremely hard for me, in a funny way though. I use my hands a lot when I talk. It is sort of a habit, even when I am trying to say something simple, I use my hands. I was not able to last the full fifteen minutes. I honestly lasted less than five minutes. Trying to tell my partner a story that happened at the movies with me and my boyfriend was really hard, I caught myself doing facial expressions like surprised for one. So I would stop and laugh, I was kind of getting mad because I really wanted to test myself to see if I really can't speak with hand signals or facial expressions. Those are like my main communication skill when I tell a story. My partner was my best friend and she knows me so well, she even uses hand signals and facial expressions, so she kept looking at me like "why are not showing any emotions". She asked me at the end "and you weren't scared" I had told her yeah but I can't show it because of the experiment so she tried telling me something without doing facial expressions and she agreed with me, it was hard.This experiment really showed me that I cannot talk effectively without hand signals or facial expressions. I think these skills that are part of communication can effect a conversation. The other person might not have a full understanding of what you are trying to tell them so it makes it harder. Understanding someone in a conversation is a part of good communication skills and these skills are necessary for the long run in life such as your career or school. The people I think that can have extreme difficulty reading body language is the blind. They cannot see so they won't be able to see your hand gestures or facial expressions or reactions when they hear something, unless they make a noise. The ability to read body language is greatly beneficial. We have the ability to see people's reactions and through these reactions we can see their emotions towards the subject. If someone is not able to speak, we can see it in their body language what they are trying to say, for example, if someone were to have a stroke, we can see in their face that they are hurt or incapable of verbally letting us know they are in pain and cannot move. The only place I can think of that body language might not be benficial is school or a classroom. We tend to judge people based on how they look so what if we walk in and see someone who seems like an outsider, does not talk to anybody, keeps to themselves, and does not speak when called upon. When they sit in class, they sit quietly, and they look kind of mad or in their own little world. They give off the vibe where no one wants to approach them or even try to engage in a converstion with them. Them giving us that body language, throws us off.