Jokes, Humor, and Comedy in a Foreign Language

Amongst many foreign language capabilities, humor is the most complicated to master for non-native speakers. In the Tokyo head workplace of my preceding enterprise, I worked with an American known as Neal who graduated from a university in Tokyo. His Japanese speech capabilities have been fantastic; he did not have any complications with every day conditions and words. Our boss invited Neal and me to his dwelling for dinner. On Television was a Japanese comedy system featuring a popular Japanese comedian. He mentioned, "Do you comprehend? You don't fully grasp." Our boss, his family members, and I all laughed, but Neal did not. Later Neal asked me why that phrase was funny. There is really absolutely nothing funny about the expression; it was that comedian's preferred saying. Anytime he mentioned it, each and every Japanese individual laughed.

In my former employer's New York workplace, there was a common affairs employees member who took photos of all newcomers to the workplace. She was photographing a young Japanese employee who had just arrived. She introduced herself as Trish and he asked if her name was "Trash." Trish was not pleased and repeated her name many occasions. The Japanese employee did not associate the word "trash" with "garbage" till somebody explained. He purchased Trish and her pals lunch the subsequent day.

Yet another buddy of mine was humorous and witty.

Her name is Sue Crucy. When she initial went to Japan on a business trip, she practiced her Japanese and memorized a greeting. In her Japanese greeting, she stated, "My name is Sue Crucy. You can bear in mind my name to be Sue Crazy." All the Japanese who met her laughed. Laughter is the most successful icebreaker, even in a cross-cultural atmosphere. Sue became popular right after her very first trip. Luckily for her and her Japanese business colleagues, no one remembered her as "Sue Crazy." They all remembered her name properly. I was amazed and impressed by her wit.

Even in the identical language, jokes and humor can differ from generation to generation. My mother, who is 81 years old, in no way understands my jokes. When my mother jokes and laughs with her good friends, I can under no circumstances fully grasp why they are laughing. I do not even have a clue why their jokes are funny. Our sense of humor is a element of our culture. Any individual who can appropriately exhibit a sense of humor in a non-native language can be regarded to have mastered the second language. With no understanding the cultural background, non-native speakers are not in a position to have an understanding of jokes correctly.

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