Signal Smoke to Skype

Communication has always been an inportant demand of all cultures. From the time of our ancestors, people have been using various mediums to communicate. In fact, smoke signals were the first step of communication. Besides that, people also communicated by using drumbeat, drawing pictures on cave walls, using doves to send top secrets and many more. Then, came the second phase of communication where people started using letters and telephones. Now, in this present century, most communication is done using the Internet or via Skype.

The process of communication may happen between people of same language and culture or people of different culture and language. However, there are always problems when cross-cultural communication occurs. This happens because each individual may analyse and intepret others' message according to their own expectations and when their expectations are not met, misinterpretations would occur. So, when people of different cultures communicate, they require a common language and of course nowadays, the only way of communicating is by using translations.

But, the question is how did people of different cultures communicate in the past? How did they understand the message that was conveyed to them? Well, the only possible way of communication was by using non-verbal communication. Below are some examples of non-verbal communication followed by its significance.

(i) FACIAL EXPRESSION

a) Smile - communicates happiness and frendliness

b) Raised eyebrows - surprise or disagreement

(ii) GESTURES

a) Hand movement - indicates a particular meaning, feeling or intention.

b) Thumbs Up - sign of approval or hitchhiking.

(iii) DRESS CODE

a) Male - shirt, pants and tie.

b) Female - skirt and blouse.

However, people still use this non-verbal communication to communicate nowadays as it is an essential part of communication. People have become more advanced now. They also use latest technology such as the Internet or Skype to communicate. They communicate with many people from different cultures and different parts of the world. Therefore, we should keep in mind that although there are different types of cultures, we still can communicate with one another. Even we are unable to communicate verbally, we can always communicate non-verbally.

posted by : MITHRAH KURHANDRAN