Name: Nguyễn Lam Kiều

Class: 18E2

PRACTICUM 5

Imagine you’re giving a ‘crash course’ to foreign visitors about how people in Vietnam
communicate nonverbally. Create a list of ‘rules’/ advice for them. Feel free to specify the
context(s) of the interaction(s).

Answer:

Compared to countries that value their etiquettes and rules in daily behaviors such as Japan, I
think Vietnam has relatively less coercion to follow the specific rules. Travellers could try to
communicate with Vietnamese people without excessive caution of cultural correctness.
However, there are several common gestures in communication among the Vietnamese that
may not be familiar to foreigners.

First of all, in terms of greetings, besides waving and shaking hands, nodding the head is also
a common way. If you are strolling on the road, and some people look at you and nod their
heads, while it may look rude, it means no ill intentions and that they acknowledge your
presence and want to say hello. For the return, a smile, a simple wave or nod back is enough.

Second point is linking arms. There have been quite a number of foreigners who ask about
Vietnamese women linking arms with each other. It might seem strange at first, but in our
country, linking arms equals shouldering, indicating the intimate level of the relationship. It is
an act of showing a friendly environment and that they are on close terms with each other.

Thirdly, Vietnamese’s smiles fascinatingly carry slightly more meanings. It is global that
people smile when they are happy, however, to Vietnamese people, it does not only indicate
emotions of joy. In this country, smiling, as the embodiment of a positive attitude, is believed
to help people get out of awkward situations. For example, when people cannot answer
difficult questions, they smile. When people do not know what to do, they smile. When
people make mistakes, they also smile with the hope of forgiveness. When people get
nervous or shy, smiling helps to calm themselves and at the same time, show friendliness
since there might be misunderstandings about panicking behaviors. Moreover, smiling can
also be used to cover trivial verbal responses. Vietnamese people do not usually respond

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"thank you" or "sorry" for every small act such as passing objects, opening the door, etc.
Therefore, smiling will show the attitude and acknowledgement of good deeds. Additionally,
an interesting truth is that Vietnamese people even sometimes show their smiles at times of
sadness. In case tears are not shedded, they also smile. To conclude, smiling is a powerful
body language to the Vietnamese since it consists of a wide variety of meanings: happiness,
politeness, awkwardness, positivity, sadness. It is easy to be confused at first as it requires the
ability to read the atmosphere and between the lines. However, if you pay close attention to
the context, the speaker's other facial expressions and tone of voice, it should be no problem.