The Silent Language

Hall further makes the observation that formal training in language, history, government, and customs is only the beginning of an understanding of how culture shapes us and how we shape culture. And he rightly points out that the silent language, the nonverbal language of the country, is a major influence that needs to be analyzed, studied, and understood. This is a language we use every day, and yet we have only a dim awareness of it. Indeed, Hall sees the silent language in many situations as more real and more truthful than verbal language, as he notes when he writes: "In addition to our verbal language, we are constantly communicating our real feelings in the language of behavior" (xiii).

While Hall talks about American culture in this book, his conception of the silent language applies to any culture

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nt language operates and how it can shape perceptions among different groups. Many misunderstandings and slights are based on the operation of the silent language in cultures that may be quite different or may be only slightly different. Groups within the U.S. may have only slight differences based on the silent language, but those differences may be key to misunderstandings and tensions between them. Such misunderstandings and tensions are only greater on the larger scale of interactions between more distant cultures, and Hall finds this again and again as he discusses Americans traveling abroad. The fact that he believes it would be beneficial for all of us to understand these differences and accommodate them to a greater degree raises an issue of education. And while Hall notes that the fact that culture can be learned should mean it can be taught, he also notes how difficult this has proven to be. A beginning point is found in creating criteria for identifying a cultural system, and thus a system capable of imparting a silent language to those who belong to it. This leads to a statement of the Primary Message Systems, those primary systems standing as differentiations of or routes for the silent language: interaction, as
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1306
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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