LANGUAGE Blog

 My husband and I did this assignment together. First, I was to use no symbolic language. I found this to be difficult. I have been programmed to use body language along with spoken language. He had a hard time figuring out what I was talking about in our conversation with one another. It’s even hard to stick to the assignment because of laughter outbursts, because of the awkwardness of the whole situation. We had to make up a system of communication not previously know to us. This was fun, but we still hit walls and he didn’t have a good idea of what I was trying to say to him. Communication without symbolic language is difficult. Had we been two different cultures meeting for the first time, I would think that he would have the ultimate advantage of communicating complex ideas. I would only imagine that the symbolic culture would look down and have a sense of power over the “lesser” culture whom only uses body language along with grunts.  I myself see this everyday in our culture. Hispanic people have a slight language barrier with English speaking individuals and I see the harsh treatment, and the rude things people say about them. It’s a misfortunate clash of cultures that really limits our growth as humans to grow beyond the language and culture barriers we encounter day to day.

 Once again I found the use of just speech and no body language hard, because of the fact that I have been influenced by body, facial, hand, and head language since my birth. You can smile which shows lack of emotion. So now I have become emotionless and dull. What’s the point of speech without passion? My monotone communication has been a boring process for my husband and his attention was soon lost. He felt disconnected with me and I felt like a boring person. I think speech can’t lack any element in its execution otherwise there will be “a failure to communicate!” There are indeed people who cannot read body language: the blind. Yes there is a huge communication barrier. They cannot see the tone they are trying to set. Irritation, urgency, exaggeration, and many more emotions are set forth through body and physical gestures. I found both experiments equally hard, frustrating, and some what useless in the attempt to properly communicate with one another.