"You can't help but wonder if Americans understand us at all..."

I discussed 16 words out of a 250-page book. Hardly a big communications breakdown.
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I find myself using hand gestures and body language more than I ever used to. My peers are getting older and the young are getting denser, and there are more foreigners in my life than before. So for all these reasons, I need my hands to communicate.

When I say 'the young are getting denser,' I'm referring to those who were plopped in front of a screen (TV, video game, computer, whatever) at a young age and have rarely spoken a sentence with more than seven words in it. Like my great-nephew, age 16, that I met after a long time. If I asked him a direct question, he would stare at his shoes and give me a one or two-word answer.

"You like music? I do too. What do you play?"

"Guitar"

"What kind of music do you play?"

"Some songs."

"How do you do it? Do you follow the chords?"

"Yeah"

Somebody get this kid an intellect!
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It is true that people with different dialects need to speak a bit more slowly to one another. It really helps.