Body Language

It can take between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if we like someone. You never get a second chance to make a first impression! But this has little to do with your talking. As far as attraction ¹ goes, here's how we get the message ²:

55% is through body language ³

38% is the tone and speed of our voice

only 7% is through what we say.

So you can see how important body language is. And it’s also important to learn how to use it and how to understand it.

Body language is a form of non-verbal communication, which consists of body pose, gestures, expressions of the face, and eye movement s⁴.

When people are happy their lips smile. When they think about some difficult problem they knit their brow ⁵. When they are surprised they raise their eyebrows. When they feel nervous or impatience they can bite their lips or drum their fingers on the table.

They say that eyes are the mirror ⁶ of the soul. It’s really true because our eyes can express a lot of emotions.

New York psychologist, Professor Arthur Arun, has been studying the dynamics of what happens when people fall in love. He has shown that the simple act of staring into each other's eyes has a powerful impact.

The two strangers were asked to stare ⁷ into each other’s eyes without talking for four minutes. Then many of his couples said that they felt deeply attracted to their partner and two of his subjects even married afterwards. So it was a proof ⁸ that love at first sight exists.

When we are interested in what we are looking at our pupil s⁹ widen. In medieval ¹⁰ Italy, women put belladonna into their eyes to make them look bigger. In fact, ‘bella donna’ means 'beautiful lady'. However, this is not recommended, as belladonna is a kind of poison!

One of the most basic and powerful body-language signals is when a person crosses his or her arms across the chest. This can indicate ¹¹ that a person is putting up a barrier ¹² between himself and others. It can also mean that a person is expressing opposition, hostility ¹³.

When people are attracted to each other, they tend to sit or stand in the same way and copy each other's physical gestures. This is known as 'mirroring'. When someone does this, it marks good communication.

But it’s really hard to interpret body language. The meaning of this or that signal may depend on the situation: eye contact can indicate that a person is thinking positively of what the speaker is saying; it can also mean that the other person doesn't trust the speaker enough to “take their eyes off” the speaker. Lackof eye contact – when a person lowers eyes or often blinks - can indicate dishonesty ¹⁴. On the other hand, shy ¹⁵ persons are often unable to make eye contact without discomfort. Also we should remember that cultural norms about eye contact vary ¹⁶ widely.

There are some books and films where body language plays an important role. For example it’s a popular American television series ‘Lie to Me’. In the detective show a group of psychologists ¹⁷, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues, who are professional interpreters of body language, help to tell truth from lie.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/love/flirting.shtml

Vocabulary to the text:

1. attraction – привлекательность, притягательность, влечение

2. message – сообщение

3. body language – жестикуляция и мимика, язык телодвижений

4. movement – движение

5. to knit their brow – хмурить брови

6. mirror – зеркало

7. stare – пристально смотреть

8. proof – доказательство

9. pupil – зрачок

10. medieval – средневековый

11. indicate – указывать, показывать, выражать

12. barrier – препятствие

13. hostility – враждебность

14. dishonesty – нечестность

15. shy – робкий

16. to vary – различаться

17. psychologist – психолог

II. Find out the meaning of the following expressions and make up a short situation with them:

You never get a second chance to make a first impression!

fall in love (with)

love at first sight

to tell smth. from smth.

they say…

III. True or false? Correct the sentences that are false:

1. It takes only several minutes to decide if people like each other.

2. You can get a lot of information through the body language.

3. ‘Bella donna’ means ‘clever lady’

4. A person crosses his/her arms across the chest to show that he/she agrees with you.

5. It’s absolutely comfortable for everybody to make eye contact with all people.

IV. Answer the questions:

1. What is body language?

2. How do people usually express their emotions with the help of body language?

3. Why are eyes called ‘a mirror of the soul’? Do you agree with it?

4. What was the experiment of Arthur Arun?

5. Why did women from medieval Italy put belladonna into their eyes?

6. Is it a good sign when a person crosses his or her arms across the chest?

7. What is ‘mirroring’?

8. Why is it difficult to interpret body language?

9. Have you ever had the situation when somebody told you something but you definitely knew that he was lying? How have you understood it?

10. Do you know any differences in body language of people from different cultures?

11. Do you know any other books or films when body language plays an important role in the plot?

V. How can people express different emotions with the help of body pose, gestures, expressions of the face, and eye movements? What does a person usually do when he/she is:

- happy

- sad

- surprised

- interested

- bored

- frightened

- uncertain?