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It is beyond awkward when everyone around you bursts out laughing at a joke that you do not find funny, especially if it’s a joke told in a foreign language. 世间最尴尬的事莫过于周围的人都被段子(笑话)逗得哄堂大笑，只有你还没发现笑点。如果这段子是用外语讲的，那么尴尬值增加一万点。 While Chinese students find it easy to adapt to a foreign lifestyle, socializing with locals is much harder, according to a recent study. Researchers looked at how well Chinese students integrated into communities across the world. Of all the activities they struggled with, understanding jokes was considered the toughest. 最近一项研究发现，中国学生很容易适应国外的生活方式，但和老外打交道就没那么简单了。研究者对中国留学生如何融入世界各地群体进行了分析。在留学生面对的所有问题中，理解笑话被认为是最难的。 Most of the time, jokes are funny only for people who share a common cultural background or perceive humor in the same way. 多数情况下，笑话只有在文化背景相同或幽默感知方式相近的人中间才有笑果。 Chinese-American comedian Joe Wong found this out first-hand. He had achieved huge success doing stand-up comedy in the US, but when he returned to China in 2008 for his first live gig in Beijing, he discovered that humor doesn’t translate. People didn’t think his Chinese jokes were as funny as his English ones, the Global Times reported. | 
