TNG - The Inner Light...

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

Picard wakes up and investigates his presence in a completely strange life. Spends years testing his wife's indifference and watches a civilization pass... But never thinks to probe into why he understands the planet/village's vocabulary despite not having a universal translator.

[CharlesPhipps]

Well its a memory download.

[McAvoy]

Universal translator is an easy out for writers not having to write a new language each week and have the crew figure it out. Or have the actors remember gibberish each week.

Remember universal translator is always on but there are times like when a Klingon speaks in Klingon it's not translated.

It what it is.

[clearspira]

My headcanon is that the UT works exactly like the TARDIS does by getting inside your head. It explains why they see the lip movements of their own language, it explains how they can pick between English and Klingon, it explains why there is no lag, and it explains why it works on multiple people at the same time in different ways - for example in VOY ''37'' one guy remarks that he is hearing Japanese whilst everyone else is hearing English.

Neural interfaces are firmly established in Trek lore and additionally, it also fits with how the UT is first described in TOS about how it is capable of working out your sex and gender. I realise that we are fighting against 1960s views of sex and gender here but putting that aside, it does make sense if we assume that the UT is telepathic.

It may even explain in Star Trek 6 why the Klingons can detect it. I like to ignore that scene though. It makes Uhura look like an idiot. Thirty years dealing with Klingons and she still cannot speak a word of it?

[Thebestoftherest]

My head canon is that if you know the word from both languages you can choose which you get, and I like to imagine several words that the Klingons needed.

[McAvoy]

It's just a storytelling shortcut that's needed in science fiction and in fantasy. Even in something like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, you would have to question why is everyone speaking English, modern English at that when the whole history of English wouldn't be present in either story. Even when in those worlds there are actual foreign languages like Dothraki or Elvish.

[Riedquat]

It's just a storytelling shortcut that's needed in science fiction and in fantasy. Even in something like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, you would have to question why is everyone speaking English, modern English at that when the whole history of English wouldn't be present in either story. Even when in those worlds there are actual foreign languages like Dothraki or Elvish.

In Lord of the Rings they're not, what we read is presented (in-universe) as a translation, which is why we get quite a few snippets of Elvish. Admittedly there's a convenient "common speech" which wouldn't work in an across worlds science fiction setting.

[Makeshift Python]

I never liked this episode.