EVERYONE LOVES A JOKE!

Funny jokes are good for our health. We hear them at parties, on the bus, in the theater, on boats and at meetings. We tell them at home, at dinner parties, to our friends and in English class. Some people can remember and tell jokes with a poker face. Some blow the punch line while others give up the telling and read them.
Not everyone tells jokes but we all listen!

We all love to laugh. It’s good for our minds, bodies and souls. Now let’s consider the English Second Language student. He or she wants to laugh, too - probably needs to laugh through his or her struggle with English grammar, rules and exceptions.

What’s in a joke other than laughter?

Many jokes cause people to laugh at the funny things that are happening around them all the time. Sometimes jokes cause people to change their behavior when they see the funny side of life..

Some jokes are a play on words that sound the same or almost sound the same. Although this is the case in many languages, it’s very difficult, even for the more advanced English student to “catch on”. Having the same type of joke in their first language doesn’t seem to help.

How Can We Help Them?

The first joke requires a lot of acting out by the teacher.

As the type of joke offered in this article is suitable for the high intermediate or advanced students, let’s talk about jokes where pronunciation and or the play on words are the key. They won’t “get it” if they don’t hear the differences. We suggest that in the classroom the teacher tell the joke in the usual way. Then when there is a heavy silence and he or she sees the blank look on the student’s faces, encourage them to listen again. This second telling could perhaps emphasis the key sounds just a little. There will be a few students that “get it” at this point but for the rest we suggest that they see a printed copy. This will as least give them a clue about this kind of joke.

How about Telling Them These?

A man went into a Men’s Wear store to buy a new suit, because he saw a sign on the door that said “Suit Sale! Three Piece Suits For $59.95.”
 He found a suit that looked pretty good, so he tried it on.
As he looked at it in the mirror, he noticed that the left lapel wouldn’t lie flat.
“Look at this lapel,” he said. “It won’t lie flat!”
The clerk answered: “Don’t worry about that, that’s not a problem! Just lay your chin on the left lapel and that will hold it down flat.
(The teacher should demonstrate by holding his/her chin on his/her left lapel.)
Then the man noticed that when he put his chin on his left lapel, it pulled up his right sleeve. “Now look at my right sleeve!” said the man. Putting my chin down on the left lapel makes this sleeve too short!”
“Don’t worry about that!” said the clerk. “Just hold on to your right sleeve with your hand and keep your arm straight. That will hold the sleeve down.”
(The teacher can show how to hold his/her chin down on the left lapel and keeping the right arm stiff.)
Now the man noticed that when he held his right arm stiff it seemed to shorten the left pant leg. “But look at my left pant leg!” the man said. When I hold my chin down and my right sleeve down I have to stand kind of funny, and my left pant leg is too short.”
(The teacher demonstrates how the man has to stand.)
The clerk replied: “That’s no problem! You’re getting a really nice suit for $59.95! Just keep your left leg bent a little and the right leg stiff! Then everything looks just right!”
(The teacher holds his/her chin down on the left lapel, holds the right sleeve down with a stiff arm, bends the left leg, and stiffens the right leg, and walks around a little.)
The man tried it all, and decided to buy the suit.

Three men were on the subway in London, and they were very drunk.
1st drunk: “What station was that?”
2nd drunk: “Wembley.”
3rd drunk: “No, it’s Thursday!”
1st drunk: “I’m thirsty too! Let’s get off at the next stop and get another drink.”