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Among the kinds of social gestures most significant for second-language teachers are those which are identical in form but different in meaning in the two cultures.
在各式社交手勢中，對第二語言教師來說，最重要的是那些在兩種文化里形式上一樣意思不一樣的手勢。
For example, a Colombian who wants someone to approach him often signals with a hand movement in which all the fingers of one hand, cupped, point downward as they move rapidly back and forth.
比如，一個哥倫比亞人想某人靠近他常常會用一種手部運動來指示，一只手的所有手指合成杯狀，下指，快速地前后移動。
Speakers of English have a similar gesture though the hand may not be cupped and the fingers may be held more loosely, but for them the gesture means goodbye or go away, quite the opposite of the Colombian gesture.
說英語的人有一個相似的手勢，雖然手不會呈杯狀，手指也許握更松散，但對他們來說這個手勢表示再見或者離開，正與哥倫比亞手勢相反。
Again, in Colombia, a speaker of English would have to know that when he indicates height he must choose between different gestures depending on whether he is referring to a human being or an animal.
再說，在哥倫比亞，一個說英語的人必須要知道，當他表明身高的時候他必須根據他是指人還是指動物在不同的手勢之間進行選擇。
If he keeps the palm of the hand parallel to the floor, as he would in his own culture when making known the height of a child, for example, he will very likely be greeted by laughter; in Colombia this gesture is reserved for the description of animals.
如果他在表明一個小孩的身高時把手掌與地面平行，像他在他自己的文化里做的那樣，他很可能會被笑話；在哥倫比亞，這一手勢是用于描述動物的。
In order to describe human beings he should keep the palm of his hand at a right angle to the floor.
為了描述人類，他應該保持他的手掌與地面垂直。
Substitutions of one gesture for the other often create not only humorous but also embarrassing moments.
一種手勢替換另一種往往不僅創造幽默，也會產生尷尬的時刻。
In both of the examples above, speakers from two different cultures have the same gesture, physically, but its meaning differs sharply.
在以上的兩個例子里，不同文化的人有身體上相同的手勢，但其意義卻大不相同。
