Often, understanding another people's way of life does not occur by either hearing them speak or translating their language. As suggested by the example of the Nuer, in order to understand another people's culture, one might need to live in the people's environment. In the case of the United States, one might need to use the technology of the people or understand the personality of the group. Communication through experience is often needed in order to break down cultural barriers. Otherwise, misunderstandings between cultures persist and are seldom solved without catastrophe.
Language is a poor way to communicate certain phenomena.
Another limitation of language as communication deals with the communication of phenomena such as love or happiness. Language cannot communicate feelings of love as well as a hug and kiss or sacrificed time can express these feelings to someone. If people would focus more on the actions of others, people might be able to communicate better than if they base their understanding of another solely on that individual's words. Language gives humans the ability to transmit their culture and adapt to these cultures as they change. Because language preserves cultural diversity, however, other avenues of communication are often needed in order to understand differences between cultures.