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THE DIFFERENCES OF BODY

LANGUAGE BETWEEN VIETNAM
AND GERMANY

 SUBJECT: INTERCULTURAL BUSINESS

COMMUNICATION

 INSTRUCTOR: NGUYEN TAN QUANG

 CLASS : AV001 - K45

 GROUP MEMBERS:

1. TRAN BANG CHAU

2. VU NGOC KY DUYEN

3. NGUYEN PHUONG THAO NHI

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I/ INTRODUCTION................................................................................2

II/ LITERATURE REVIEW...................................................................2

1. Definition of body language..............................................................2

2. Classification of body language........................................................3

III/ DIFFERENCES IN BODY LANGUAGES BETWEEN VIETNAM

AND GERMANY.....................................................................................4

1. Gestures..............................................................................................4
a) The “Okay” sign...............................................................................4
b) Crossing your fingers.......................................................................4
c) “Thumbs up” sign............................................................................4

2. Dress...................................................................................................4

3. Facial expression:..............................................................................5
a) The movement of eyelid and eyebrow.............................................5
b) The most common facial expression in Viet Nam and Germany.. . .5
c) The surprising or impressive expression..........................................6

4. Challenges to business in Germany.................................................7

IV/ CONCLUSION..................................................................................8

Reference.................................................................................................8

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 THE DIFFERENCES OF BODY LANGUAGE BETWEEN VIETNAM AND GERMANY

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UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

I/ INTRODUCTION

In 23/9/1975, Vietnam-Germany diplomatic relationships were officially established. Up

to now, friendly relations and cooperation between Vietnam and German have been fostered
energetically, which brings numerous sustainable benefits in several aspects, especially in
economic sector.

Germany has become one of the essential business counterpart of Vietnam in Europe when
accounting for nearly 20% of the total exporting figures to Europe. Moreover, it is
considered as a key gateway of transporting goods from Vietnam to European market.

As the result of the Vietnam-Germany positive relationship, the demand of interaction

between residents of two countries is expected to grow rapidly in the next few years.
Therefore, we need to equip ourselves with basic knowledge about cutural differences
between Vietnam and Germany, and our group’s essay is written to meet that demand.

The essay would provide a proper understanding of fundamental differences in terms of

body language, which is the factor that can be easily misunderstood in communication.
Afterwards Vietnamese people would be capable of using as well as understanding German
gestures properly and vice versa. Hence, mistakes which lead to negative consequences
carrying risks of harming the diplomatic relations can be avoided.

II/ LITERATURE REVIEW

1. Definition of body language

People have different understandings of body language, the most common of which says
“people communicate with each other not only by voicing verbal language, but also by
making eye contact, hand gestures, facial expressions, body movements, wearing different
clothes and makeup, and maintaining distance. These non-linguistic symbols will

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 THE DIFFERENCES OF BODY LANGUAGE BETWEEN VIETNAM AND GERMANY

complement linguistic symbols by stressing, confirming, negating or weakening the

meaning of linguistic symbols. Sometimes, they even replace the linguistic symbols in
social intercourse to express ideas and emotions that cannot be conveyed linguistically.
These postures and movements which can communicate emotions and intentions are called
body language”.
Beisler et al. (1997) claimed that “body language is a conventional term for
communication by the use of parts of the body (other than the tongue for speaking!). We
can analyze it by looking at various parts of the body isolation, but we must always
remember that it is unusual for only one part of the body to be used at a time. Usually there
are ‘clusters’ of movements involving various parts of the body”.

2. Classification of body language

Everybody may have a justifiable reason to classify body language in various ways. The
following points, however, must be assured when scientifically classify body language:
 First, the aim of classification is to gain a better understanding of body language
characteristics and to group body language with similar characteristics into one
category and body language with different characteristics into different categories.
As a result, we will have a deeper understanding of body language features.
 Second, just as various types of other objects, body language cannot have duplication
or negligence under the same standard.

According to Nguyen Quang (2008), body language can be classified in three ways:
 Based on their functions: emblems, regulators, illustrators, adaptors, and affect
displays.
 Based on their origins: universal, genetically transferred, inborn, area-specific,
group- specific, and culture –specific.
 Based on parts of the body: eye contact, facial expressions, gestures, postures,
physical characteristics, body movements, and touching.

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UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

Because of the study's restricted length, we would like to concentrate solely on certain
forms of body language including gestures, facial expression and dress.

III/ DIFFERENCES IN BODY LANGUAGES BETWEEN

VIETNAM AND GERMANY
1. Gestures
Gestures can be some of the most direct and obvious body language signals. They vary
across cultures; in this paper, we will look at the variations in these following gestures
between Vietnam and Germany:

a) The “Okay” sign

It’s so easy to make this sign, you just need to touch the index finger to the thumb to
create an “O” shape with them.
In Germanny, it is a very offensive insult. But in Vietnam, this is a sign of
agreement, indicating that everything is in good working order. It is also have the
same meaning in many countries around the world.

b) Crossing your fingers

This means that you're wishing someone good luck with an upcoming event in
Germany. However, in Vietnam, it is considered as a rude in disrespectful gesture
that refers to part of the female anatomy in Vietnam.

c) “Thumbs up” sign

When you make this sign in Germany, people would assume you're counting. But
Vietnamese people literally send a “thumbs up” whether they are usually pleased by
something or wish to show that we agree with others.

2. Dress
We see no difference in dress of Vietnam and Germany, both in business and normal life.

In Vietnamese and German business culture, suits and ties in subdued colors are the norms.
The bright color of any kind is not appropriate.

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 THE DIFFERENCES OF BODY LANGUAGE BETWEEN VIETNAM AND GERMANY

For a business meeting, traditional attire is expected, with men wearing a dark-colored,
non-controversial suit and tie. Women should wear a jacket-and-skirt combination or a
trouser suit. Stick to neutral, muted shades like beige and brown.

Due to the focus on formal, respectable dress in these business culture, flat shoes or very
low heels are the main footwear choices for women, particularly if you are substantially
taller than your hosts.

3. Facial expression:

The following would compare different meanings of facial expressions identical

between Vietnamese people and German people. The developments of this study are
composed of three main part: movement of eyelid and eyebrow, surprising or
impressive expression in each country, and the most common facial expression in
Viet Nam and Germany.

a) The movement of eyelid and eyebrow

In Germany, pulling your lower eyelid down while speaking may explain the
sarcastic gesture, it implies that you're going to be sarcastic about what you're saying.
This German gesture, which involves bringing the eyelid down, indicates that what
you're doing is going to be taken sarcastically.

But in Vietnam, an eyebrow up expresses the Vietnamese’s frustration when they

have the feeling such as anxiety, surprise, or fright. Therefore, whether anyone
praises Vietnamese new hairstyle or wardrobe by raising eyebrows, it can not be a
friendly gesture.

b) The most common facial expression in Viet Nam and Germany.

In German group situations, it is perfectly acceptable to say "Hello" to people by

blinking your eyeballs, smiling, and nod your head one time at a specific person. You
can simply be the first person sitting at a German conference, then wait for the others
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UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

entering to see this in action. With a scrunch of the eyeballs, a pinched-up grin, and a
nod, the Germany will say "hi" one by one to those presenting and you will be
expected to respond positively courteously. The greeting is usually reserved for
acquaintances and colleagues. (and not as much with close friends).

Howerver, winking in Vietnam is not the same as Germany. To Vietnamese people,

this action is not decent, especially when directed at people of the opposite gender.

And now we come to the facial expression that Vietnamese people often use in
almost all situations and events.

The smile, which is sometimes enigmatic to European culture, is a nonverbal symbol

showing the sense of respect in Vietnamese culture. It may be used as an expression
of greeting, thanks, apology, or embarrassment. The smile is a convenient response
for the Vietnamese in most circumstances where any verbal expression is not
necessary or appropriate.

A smile or a blush on the face is the appropriate response to a compliment. If a verbal

response is needed, one would refuse the compliment, arguing that one is unworthy
of it. Misunderstandings have arisen as a result of the various mediums used in the
two cultures to convey emotions of thanks or apologies.

c) The surprising or impressive expression.

In Germany, when people say “Booooah” with their pupils which show
astonishment and pull away, it implies that they are neutrally impressed.

The utterance "Booooah" falls somewhere in the middle of the spectrum of phrases
and sounds. Because saying it necessitates some real physical theatrics, with the
person making the sound concurrently twisting his or her expression to show
astonishment while retreating the head and upper torso backward. Like the English

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word "Wow," it can be used to connote anything from amazement to respect to

disappointment or even disgust.

Concerning to Vietnam, a surprise is often characterized by the expression on

someone's face was like raised eyebrows, eyes widened and mouth opened. Physical
reactions like jumping back. Verbal responses such as screaming or gasping for
breath, for Vietnamese, people say "Quao!!" "Hú hồn!!", all because of the variety in
Vietnamese.

4. Challenges to business in Germany

The most important part of the body language is sincerity. Whoever wants to
activate body language, firstly, people should activate their sincere feelings. Body
language is not learned, otherwise person behaves unsincerely, body language is
spirit, feeling, experienced, we should understand the opposite body language in
mental density. The belowed part will present some effective clues for body language
between different cultures with the aim of communicating successfully:

The first element is respect, which means presenting capabilities and is a desire for
cultures. Particularly is the respect to the old, respect to speech, respect with eye
contact, hand and body gestures as well as respect to the persons’ privacy.

The second one is about tolerance. It is important when the exact attitude of a
situation is still vague, either positive or negative. In this case, everyone should
present their positiveness toward any unexpected situations and events created by
culture differences.

Thirdly, being unprejudiced: Domination brought by culture or development

should not be in the forefront in communications. As the result, everyone should
break down prejudice in approaches to the relations.

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UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

The final clue concerns to empathy: The highest level is the empathy in
capabilities mentioned in cultural relations. We should put ourselves in another’s
shoes and approach in this way, hence, success will come forward.

Doing business in Germany without proper cross-cultural experience is a dangerous

prospect, and businesses should bring a knowledge of both the business landscape
and the culture with them.

IV/ CONCLUSION
Our group’s essay has already demonstated fundamental points concerning to body
language differences between Vietnam and Germany, which is one of our vital counterpart.
As the diplomatic relations of both countries are expected to developing in breadth and
depth, the integration is inevitable and hence, it not only provides advantages but also
challenges us in many ways, typically the communicating aspect. Therefore, in order to
break through cultural barriers as well as, we have to gain a basic understanding of key
elements involved in cultural differences. Acquiring those knowledge would be useful for
us in adding strengths to verbal messages and timely realizing signs of misunderstanding as
well as negative feelings of other.

Reference
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Nanchang, Journal of Nanchang Institute of Aeronautical Technology (Social
Science), 2000.

2. Jianxue Yin, Body Language Classification and Communicative Context,

International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural
Communication, 2014
3. Makbule Evrim Gülsünler and Mehmet Fidan, AN EMPIRICAL WORK ABOUT
THE USE OF BODY LANGUAGE IN INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATION:

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 THE DIFFERENCES OF BODY LANGUAGE BETWEEN VIETNAM AND GERMANY

EXAMPLE OF TURKEY AND GERMANY, International Journal of Arts & Sciences,

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