Laughter can be considered the universal language, right? After all, a good laugh is something people from all cultures enjoy, without a single doubt. However, humor across countries is very different. We all love laughing but we just don’t laugh for the same reasons. When you’re bilingual or are studying to become one, you know this for a fact.

How – and where – to use humor is difficult to judge. When addressing a group from your own culture, in your own language, humor can be an ideal way of getting the audience’s attention. But generally speaking, when making a presentation to a cross-cultural audience, leave the jokes in your briefcase.

Yes, a play on words is one thing in your own language, but the chances are, it will be lost in translation. And while a speaker native to the country you’re in may make jokes at the expense of the neighbors – Uruguayans poking fun at Argentinians for their vanity, and Americans telling Canadian jokes, French telling Belgian jokes and so on, it is not the place of a foreigner to do this.

Sometimes even professional translators or interpreters found themselves asking wondering where the joke was. Imagine the hard work that is to translate a TV comedy show to create the desire effect. You have to stick to the story is being narrated but you can’t be too literal if you want your target audience to really laugh.

Would you take your joke in English or Spanish?

There is a noticeable difference between Spanish humor and English based humor at a first sight: The Spanish seem to like a lot more in your face slapstick while the English seem to try and add in sophistication. However, in a deeper level, the Spanish humor has something quite unique, which is "surrealism". This is wide spread in the Spanish culture and a good example of it is in the cinema.

In Spain, the comic lets everyone identify with it as a group; in the U.S., the comic lets everyone realize that they do think that way, even though they don't want to admit it to themselves. Generally speaking, Spanish humor has fewer boundaries than American humor, and is decidedly less politically correct. Comparing the two countries, the Spanish sense of humor is more openly:

• Nationalist
• Sexual
• Political
• Absurd

Whereas American humor as more openly:

• Introspective
• Self-deprecating
• Sarcastic
• Politically correct

Of course, there are many other differences if you compare not only the languages but also consider the many countries involved. A joke is not the same in England than in Australia or the US, and the same happens between Cuba, Spain and Argentina. Now, if you invite an Irish audience to a Mexican comedy show and vice versa they will probably find it hard to laugh.

Truth is, a person who uses their linguistic skills to make a living (aka, as a translator) may need to add a lot of study about the way to be funny in the Target language.

If you’re studying Spanish, here we have some beginner’s silly jokes for you to practice. Good luck!

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