【Question】how to be humorous by using english ?

[暴牙小蘇蘇 10]

when i chated with my friends with MSN .

i really don't know how to be humorous by using english .

when they saied something funny ... i only could reply " haha " = ='

that is why i always feel embarrassing when i chat with them .

i want to be humorous more than before by using english !!!

could u teach me ?

Edited April 12, 2010 by 暴牙小蘇蘇

[Shen TY 10]

I have this kind of problem too...

I'm in america right now (as an exchange student)

I don't know how to gossip or communicate with my american friend.

It's hard for me to think of something to reply their theme.

I tried to say something funny once, but... that was embarrassing, everyone stared at me like..."what are you talking about?"

[MikiRei 10]

Watch stand up comedy acts. Read humourous books. Watch comedy shows on TV. You just need to practice.

If you've only been in America for a few months, it's going to be hard at first. Humour also derives from an understanding of the culture. The reason why your friends might not understand what you're on about is because the type of humour you're pulling works in Taiwanese culture but doesn't work in American culture.Just practice. Listen to how your friends are expressing themselves. You'll pick it up soon enough.

Probably the best tip is don't even TRY to be funny. Just be yourself. I remember giving up around high school and just say whatever comes to my mind. For some reason, my friends started laughing at what I'm saying and I'm like, "What?" and they were like, "That was funny."

??? I wasn't trying to be?

And then I have teachers saying that I have an unique sense of humour in my school report, puzzling me further but I guess that's really it. Humour also comes in all forms and is unique to each person. Don't think too much about it and you'll get the gist of it naturally.

Edited April 13, 2010 by MikiRei

[Sunriz 11]

Read more and chat more...

I think you can surf the international chatting room in the net

then you can practice more and when you chat with them..

you can learn a lot of things that you don't know .

[EDTA 10]

Read novels, for example Jodi Picoult series. Jokes involving names and CAPITAL letters are mostly difficult to understand because, as someone above already mentioned, we belong to different cultures. But that's not the only way to make funny expressions. Sometimes you just need the knack to be able to "twist" your vocabulary. I'll give you an example from Handle with Care:

"......She left me to babysit."

From inside the house: "I'm not a baby!"

"What I meant to say is that she left me to invalidsit."

Note that this came out of the mouth of a thirteen-year old.

[EDTA 10]

Read novels, for example Jodi Picoult series. Jokes involving names and CAPITAL letters are mostly difficult to understand because, as someone above already mentioned, we belong to different cultures. But that's not the only way to make funny expressions. Sometimes you just need the knack to be able to "twist" your vocabulary. I'll give you an example from Handle with Care:

"......She left me to babysit."

From inside the house: "I'm not a baby!"

"What I meant to say is that she left me to invalidsit."

Note that this came out of the mouth of a thirteen-year old.

[竪纛千里 10]

Actually when American feels the joke is funny, they just type lol, which means laugh out loudly, I think that's more common then haha.

[MikiRei 10]

lol or rofl or lmao

[§槓上開花§ 10]

Watch more movies

[明亮 10]

It is really a hard problem.

There is a man who is humorous, that's Jeff Corwin. This man is funny, and so many people love him, of course including me.

[§槓上開花§ 10]

The God Father will be a good choice

[Evian 10]

How to be humorous in English?

The same way you would be humorous in your native language I assume. Being witty doesn't have anything to do with the language you use =)

[luoyuie 10]

Being humorous in English is difficult.

I have ever tried but not success.

Maybe u can chat with foreigner more ?

God bless u !

[歡Juan♠ 10]

　I want to talk with foreigner who uses English .

　I tried and tried ... but can not find a way to make some foreigner friend .

　so I wanna ask you all . How can you find ways to chat with foreigner ?

　Chat-room webside ? or foreign forum ?

　I really wanna make my English better and better , not just chat with computer AI ...

　

　Watch movies is a good way to make your English humorous .

　You can learn many words which is spoken by native speakers .

　and I think it is good to make chat more happily !!

　Hope this will be useful for you :)

[s880033lo 10]

i still can't talk to my friends in english frequently....

[暴牙小蘇蘇 10]

　I want to talk with foreigner who uses English .

　I tried and tried ... but can not find a way to make some foreigner friend .

　so I wanna ask you all . How can you find ways to chat with foreigner ?

　Chat-room webside ? or foreign forum ?

　I really wanna make my English better and better , not just chat with computer AI ...

　

　Watch movies is a good way to make your English humorous .

　You can learn many words which is spoken by native speakers .

　and I think it is good to make chat more happily !!

　Hope this will be useful for you :)

yeah , here is a website called Sharetalk

http://www.sharedtalk.com/

u can take a look ^^

i totally agree . Watching movie is really a good way to become humorous in english .

THX , guys

[我是小R 10]

wow

this sounds reeeeally difficult for me..........

but I'd like to try!

[MikiRei 10]

How can you find ways to chat with foreigner ?

　Chat-room webside ? or foreign forum ?

You can try reddit.com. It's like Digg only the comments and the user base are a lot more intelligent and you get less flame wars in there.

Either sign up to random subreddit or a subreddit of your topic of interest. Political or philosophical subreddits usually generate a lot of really long (if not overly long sometimes) and insightful responses.

[timothyhses 10]

actually, i think its really a question of are you funny as a human being.

you know, like do you joke in chinese? if you do joke in chinese, its really quite the same to joke in english. It is just another tool you use to talk with, isnt it?

humour has many aspects, some jokes are ironic, some jokes are a result of quick wit, meaning that you get to the conclusion faster than others, some jokes are funny because they are so ridiculous they're funny, and some jokes are just plain silly.

oh and btw, i find that when you're being silly or humourous, don't try to hard, after all, joking around is all about being spontaneous and relaxed, and intenseness doesnt help with it. hope i helped!

[timothyhses 10]

oh and making fun of yourself is funny and not offensive to other people

[w加菲貓w 10]

My foreign friend have said that our Asian's background is totally different than them.

We think it's so hard to understand foreigners' gag and so as them.

However, I think to be a humorous listener and always wear smile are good ways to make friends.

[Im JeSsIcA 10]

Actually when American feels the joke is funny, they just type lol, which means laugh out loudly, I think that's more common then haha.

laugh out LOUD* ;)

[Serena Lai 0]

As a training teacher, i've used the stickers from this website before and since there are free and just one or two phrases to use and communicate with my colleagues aboard, i think they are quite useful. https://www.twinkl.com.hk/resource/t-c-7458-adult-reports-humorous-stickers-other