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.
在各式社交手势中，对第二语言教师来说，最重要的是那些在两种文化里形式上一样意思不一样的手势。
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，一个哥伦比亚人想某人靠近他常常会用一种手部运动来指示，一只手的所有手指合成杯状，下指，快速地前后移动。
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.
说英语的人有一个相似的手势，虽然手不会呈杯状，手指也许握更松散，但对他们来说这个手势表示再见或者离开，正与哥伦比亚手势相反。
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.
再说，在哥伦比亚，一个说英语的人必须要知道，当他表明身高的时候他必须根据他是指人还是指动物在不同的手势之间进行选择。
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.
如果他在表明一个小孩的身高时把手掌与地面平行，像他在他自己的文化里做的那样，他很可能会被笑话；在哥伦比亚，这一手势是用于描述动物的。
In order to describe human beings he should keep the palm of his hand at a right angle to the floor.
为了描述人类，他应该保持他的手掌与地面垂直。
Substitutions of one gesture for the other often create not only humorous but also embarrassing moments.
一种手势替换另一种往往不仅创造幽默，也会产生尴尬的时刻。
In both of the examples above, speakers from two different cultures have the same gesture, physically, but its meaning differs sharply.
在以上的两个例子里，不同文化的人有身体上相同的手势，但其意义却大不相同。