Ameeting of cultures, ameeting of gestures. On understanding selected British emblematic gestures by Poles learning English
The text presents the results of research on decoding selected British emblematic gestures by Poles claiming agood command of English. Due to migration processes, as well as cultural rapprochement, Poles often find themselves in various communicative situations with people well versed in British culture. Understanding arepertoire of nonverbal signs is an indispensable factor of successful communication. In the text 22 typical British gestures mostly unknown and not used within Polish culture have been characterised, and the level of understanding of these gestures by Polish interlocutors has been estimated. The results of discrepancies between the meaning of the gestures and their decoding by Poles have also been presented.