Question: do you think that apes understand the English language but are just not able to speak it or do you think they ignore us hoping that we will leave them alone? Do you think that they understand any universal language?

Alison Thomson answered on 10 Nov 2014:

I don’t think they understand the English language, but they certainly understand our body language when we’re talking so I think they get the idea of some of the more simple things we talk about – like when we’re sad, I’m pretty sure they understand that.

I don’t think they’re ignoring us, but I don’t think they’re actively interested in the human race either! They’re just happy to get on with their lives.

Some apes have been trained to understand sign language – which I think is pretty cool!