So I’m not entirely certain of what the state of non-Federation Standard languages are in Star Trek (and I know there are several episodes of Voyager that totally dispel my little scenario here but, listen, I still like this idea so bear with me) but I just think it would have been really cool if, during Voyager’s journey home the Universal Translator broke for an episode and suddenly everyone on board can’t understand each other because, as it would turn out, no one except maybe Janeway and Tom is fluent in Federation Standard. Like:
- B’Elanna speaks a combination of Spanish and Klingon and there is absolutely no rhyme or reason behind when she speaks which (that anyone else can tell, at least. She does have a pattern of when she uses certain words - usually based on whichever language she feels describes what she is explaining more accurately). Sometimes she switches mid-thought. Ayala speaks only in Spanish so the two of them buddy up during this episode and actually become stronger friends after this.
- Tuvok, obviously, speaks Vulcan. He didn’t think learning Standard was logical since the Universal Translators existed and he would rather spend his time learning more immediately useful skills. He and Vorik also speak slightly different dialects so conversations between them are a little slow since they have to untangle local metaphors and slight differences in their vocabulary.
- Tom speaks Standard, but he picked up French in his time at the academy and actually preferred that so he has been speaking French the whole time. He can speak Standard but, quite honestly, his Standard has gotten just a little rusty and he keeps accidentally slipping back into French. He swears in English though.
- Chakotay is speaking his tribe’s language. He does speak enough Standard to get by, but it’s been a while so he’s out of practice. He also speaks a little Spanish, so he can somewhat converse with B’Elanna and Ayala.
- Neelix, obviously, speaks Talaxian.
- Janeway speaks Standard, but she swears in Irish Gaelic. She also understands a little Klingon (not enough to really keep up with B’Elanna), some Vulcan (again, not really enough to keep up with Tuvok) and, like, one semester’s worth of Modern Bajoran (not very helpful since there are so few Bajorans on board). She’s not having a good day and feels somewhat guilty about how heavily she has been relying on the UT over the years instead of studying her colleagues’ languages.
- Harry speaks Korean and a bit of Standard. The good news is that Tom and Harry know each other so well that they really don’t need to talk, they just kinda gesture at each other and know what’s going on.
- Seven understands everyone perfectly because of her assimilated knowledge, except for Neelix. Turns out, he actually speaks some backwater dialect of Talaxian and the Borg did not assimilate anyone from his region so she’s only getting about half of what he says. Anyway, Seven ends up having to act as a translator during senior officer’s meetings, but she keeps shortening what people say and removing metaphors for the sake of efficiency and a lot of the meaning is lost in translation. This becomes a lesson for her in the art of poetry or something.
- It turns out the Doctor’s entire language matrix was built into the Universal Translator, so he is unable to speak or understand anything he says. B’Elanna ends up having to type coded signals to send into his matrix in order to communicate with him in any meaningful way. However, halfway through the episode, he discovers a Federation Standard Sign Language subroutine in his coding so he is able to sign with Seven (Sign Language can be interpreted by the UT, but the knowledge of how to actually sign was programmed into the Doctor himself since it is a non-verbal form of communication). The others end up picking up some of his signing as well and it becomes a really good way for everyone to communicate with each other quickly when Seven isn’t around.
- In the end, they fix the UT and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. Tom asks B’Elanna to teach him Klingon and Spanish and she says she will if he teaches her French. B’Elanna ends up making fun of how little sense French makes. Tom actually loves Klingon, but he’s bad at Spanish (even though it’s closer to French than Klingon is. Don’t try to figure Tom Paris out.) Janeway also asks to learn some of Chakotay’s language and he teaches her. They end up speaking in his language a lot after they get back to the Alpha Quadrant and spend time together away from technology and Starfleet. Neelix quickly becomes a fluent signer and pretty much constantly signs while he is also speaking.
