You must be joking?

It’s interesting really, when you think about it. I think the importance of communication is often underplayed. Take a joke for example. A joke has the power to make people fall down in tears of laughter. It has the power to bring amazing happiness to those people that hear it, and we have such a fascination with jokes and laughter that we spend hours and hours of our lives watching comedy films and going to see stand up comedians- a good sense of humour is even something most people look for in a partner.
Yet, on the other side of the coin- jokes can often be misunderstood. People can be hurt, offended and even feel bullied by not understanding a joke. Interestingly, humour is something that a lot of people find very difficult to translate into a different language. This is because the things we find funny are not just the words themselves, but the common associations we have with them.
I suppose, in theory, it is possible to learn a language from a text book. I suppose that all a language really is, is a series of words in specific patterns and structures that could quite easily be portrayed in a book or on a website. How hard would it be to learn what to say? Then again, I think the skill lies in how to say it. Nothing compares to learning a language from a real breathing human being. Human beings possess all the appropriate word associations and feelings, not just to say the right things, but to make sense.
For example, if you found someone attractive, you could say “Your face is aesthetically adequate” and you never know, it may be well received- but I personally feel that a phrase like “your very pretty” would go down with more success.
Do not settle for merely being heard. Aim to be understood.