Meeting an Arab puts you immediately in the spotlight, regardless whether you speak the language or not, as you would be challenged on how to greet the host, what to respond, which leg to enter the house with, where to sit in the room, and how to deal with coffee etiquette dilemma… Your association and readiness to respond correctly to these questions would determine to which extent you are encultured with the Arabic surrounding without speaking much of the Arabic that you have learnt. 

This would lead us to the fact that “the word and the motion are partners” (Al-Jahiz), which means that the signs and gestures make an important part of the Arabic culture, which is a high-context low content polychronic culture. 

In this lecture, Dr. Muntasir Al-Hamad –author of “Signs and Gestures: Non-verbal Communication in Qatari Culture”- will discuss various linguistic and cultural theories and present the applications and employment of these signs in our communication with Arabs.