Speakers or English have a similar gesture through 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.

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

Substitutions of one gesture for the other often create not only humorous but also embarrassing moment.

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.

Again, in Colombian, a speaker of English would have to know that when he indicates height he most choose between different gestures depending on whether he is referring to a human being or an animal

By making gestures at strategic points.

He uses lots of gestures to help make his points clear.