Who doesn\u2019t like to be amused? To smirk, to beam, to sneer – there are many ways for us to describe when a person finds humour in things. But at the end of the day, how do we make people laugh?<\/p>\n
Jokes!<\/p>\n
Well yes, but that\u2019s not the whole story. As we probably all know, cracking a joke doesn\u2019t always mean instant laughter, and laughs don\u2019t only come from jokes. That\u2019s because humour is a two-part idea. Humour isn\u2019t only the quality of being funny but also the ability to find things funny (we say someone \u2018has a good sense of humour\u2019 if they often find things funny). Both the creator and receiver of a joke need humour for the thing to work.<\/p>\n
This is important for young learners to understand. When students try to write funny things, they tend to start with stand-alone jokes. These can be very funny and inventive, but to go deeper with humour involves a complex thought process that takes practice. Creating laughter is often done through a meticulously designed atmosphere or a sudden upset of expectation. To write something funny, the creator must attempt to imagine how the audience would interpret their idea, which includes considering their vocabulary and ideas about the world. For example, a parent may laugh when a toddler points to a cat and says \u2018dog\u2019, but we wouldn\u2019t laugh at a professional comedian doing this.<\/p>\n
Writing funny things is an excellent exercise in understanding the audience\u2019s perspective. Though we might grow tired of reading a child\u2019s jokes about bodily functions, we shouldn\u2019t discourage them from trying to make us laugh through their writing. As they read and learn more, they will develop a subtler sense of what is funny, and through this, they come to understand a lot about the world.<\/p>\n
As they practise more, they\u2019ll learn to judge what kind of humour goes with which mindset, and soon they\u2019ll have everyone laughing!<\/p>\n