Talking to Another Species

When I talk to my cats, I do this in a special voice (don't judge me; I know many people do this!) but even after all these years, my "I'm talking to a cat" voice does not elicit any response from them. It's as if they are unable to hear the difference between my regular voice and my cat voice. Now, imagine you're on the planet Arion-7. An ugly bugger of an alien slowly and ominously moves toward you, growling, with highly acidic saliva dripping from its teeth and the corners of its mouth (yes, that is a reference to the movie Alien). This scenario makes most humans want to spray a huge number of high-caliber bullets in its general direction. But what if it is (in its most soothing "I'm talking to a human" voice possible) really just inviting you to come check out its awesome stamp collection? Takeaway: inter-species communication is tricky. Beware, dear space traveler.