"Learn to watch faces and expressions. Language is not all it's cracked up to be. Often you go wrong when you are struggling with dimly remembered foreign words and neglect the person or context. You'll need a bit of Russian, a bit of French, and a bit of Spanish, at least, to do the world....

Everyone knows there are some gestures that are essentially cultural idioms; they've got regionally, culturally, or ethnically specific meanings that might be VERY DIFFERENT than what you're used to. Palms out in Greece: In Greece, putting the palm of your hand (or worse, the palms of both hands) towards someone is akin to raising your...