Hand gestures when speaking???

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On those rare occasions when I do speak more than a few words, I sometimes get kidded for talking with my hands. I always chalk it up to being half Italian, but now that I think about it, what I am doing with my hands is trying to create a visual representation of the words I am saying. Maybe it's a subconscious way of compensating for my weak verbal skills.

I definitely use gestures when talking, especially as a way of painting a picture of what I'm trying to say. I've also found myself doing it when talking on the phone.
I don't remember learning how to do it; it just came naturally.

I've learned to gesture some.

When i was a kid i gestured a lot. But not in normal manner. My gesture were extreme and they were always the same. During art school a girl started to imitate my gestures, i don't know if it was for mocking me. But after a bit of time, she started to move hands in the same way i moved mine, as she had absorbed my gestures.
Currently i think i do when i have to think in pictures (when i move hands i 'see' the better the picture in my head) but not when i have to think in words.

Is not cultural, it depends from people to people. I've read once that people that think in pictures when they talk, tend to move hands more than people that think in words.
I'm italian (still living in Italy), and for stereotype italians must move hands when they speak. Instead it does depends from person to person. Us italian from northern region, influenced by german culture, tend to think that italian from south are more expressive and talk with hands. But when i have been in Naples (a city from south Italy) i've seen that this is not true.
I also have seen a german singer(the singer of Scorpions) that move hands when he speaks, and us italian tend to imagine that german people don't move hands when they speaks. It's true there are some rituals that belong to culture, but those rituals are more like the way people say or don't say hello, or present theirselves rather than the way they speak

Nordlys, I hope I did not offend you by noting my Italian heritage as the reason for hand gesturing. It is a common belief here in the US that Italians typically talk with their hands. My remark was not meant to mock in any way. In fact, I believe using hand gestures while speaking can be a very beautiful, and somewhat artistic way for one to express themselves. If I did offend you, please accept my sincerest apologies.