communication

When we think of “being bilingual” we often think of spoken language – but someone can also be bilingual in, say, their mother tongue and Braille; or their mother tongue and British Sign Language (or American Sign Language); or English and Makaton. And in our modern world we have flexible, supportive technology that can help us, such as the PENfriend family and various apps. Did you ever wonder, however, about the origins of some of the languages used in SEN settings?

Language isn’t just about the words we speak. It can also be about how we carry ourselves, how we make contact with others, tone of voice. Sometimes it's even about what we wear. If you’re off to a formal meeting, for example, you’d probably wear a very different outfit from what you’d wear for weeding the garden or spring cleaning your house.

All of this sends out a message, though, just as body language does - so we thought we'd have a peek at how a few different gestures can sometimes be interpreted in different ways around the world.