Humans are not by nature telepathic. Where some situations involving strong emotion transport from one human to another, in general another's emotional state is sensed more from their words and body language and actions. There are cases where a close bond exists between humans, such as from a mother to a child, and some situations of danger or distress are sensed, at a distance. These cases usually receive a great deal of attention, and are remembered distinctly by the individual. This is because of their rarity.
Communications to our contactees include telepathic conversations, which the contactee may or may not be aware of. Telepathic thought, for humans, seems much like day dreaming. Thoughts just come into the contactee's head. These conversations differ from day dreaming in that they have a conversational element, and the contactee may think of something outside of his personal knowledge. Each human we so speak to is different. Some hear our voice, mentally, better than others. Some cannot resist interjecting their own slant. Some pull the conversation in directions desired. The overall effectiveness of the communication is dependent on these and other issues. The effectiveness can also change over time, becoming more or less effective. Our telepathic message is understood by a contactee in their native language, if words are involved. Long before the word is formed in their mind, however, the concept is understood. Words may be the first external contact humans have with a concept, but they are in fact the end product of the conceptualization process.
Words are formed as a result of the human mind understanding a concept and relating this to sounds humans emit under certain circumstances such as grunts and sighs, or sounds objects make under certain circumstances such as thuds or tinkling, and finally relating this to sounds or symbols other humans have made when describing these concepts. First comes the concept, then comes the symbol to describe it - the written or spoken word. We communicate the concept to the contactee and they provide the words. When they communicate back to us, telepathically, they first think of the concept, which we get, and then expand this in their own mind to the words that apply. Humans think of communication in terms of words, as they anticipate having to communicate to other humans. You are, as you say, hard wired to do this, so you don't turn this off. The words a contactee forms in their mind are not needed for communication to us, however. They are simply so much excess noise, and we ignore them.