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Neelix and the pixie had been onboard for how long at this point?

They had probably learned English by then.

Mikey wrote:All true, and all of that has been gone over before. None of it, unfortunately, addresses any IU use of the UT - for example in the episode being discussed.

Which is why I don't participate in debates like these too much. I can't often separate IU and OOU. I can't forgive the bad choreography in the office fight scene in ROTS and try to explain it away. And I also don't want to try to analyze what is clearly an audience and narrative convenience in the languages.

Cpl Kendall wrote:Neelix and the pixie had been onboard for how long at this point?

They had probably learned English by then.

But why? With the UT why would you bother to learn another language?

Tyyr wrote:

Cpl Kendall wrote:Neelix and the pixie had been onboard for how long at this point?

They had probably learned English by then.

But why? With the UT why would you bother to learn another language?

For the love of the language of course. I mean, doesn't everyone learn foreign languages just for the fun of the hours of repetition and memorization?

Yeah, Neelix is the kind of guy I can see doing it for the love of the language.

Tyyr wrote:

Cpl Kendall wrote:Neelix and the pixie had been onboard for how long at this point?

They had probably learned English by then.

But why? With the UT why would you bother to learn another language?

Well, if the UT breaks down. Or for the sheer heck of it.

I can't remember the last time the UT broke and again, Neelix doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to do any of that fancy "book learning," without a good reason.

Maybe continuous exposure to a single language through the UT leads to some learning of that language?

I know, I'm reaching, but it might work.

Possibly. I mean the computer can read your mind, why not let it start putting things in there.

Maybe constant activation of a particular pathway leads to the formation of an engram.

Tyyr wrote:I can't remember the last time the UT broke and again, Neelix doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to do any of that fancy "book learning," without a good reason.

When Quark and Rom got tossed back in time and ended up in area 51. That's the only time I recall it happening, and Rom fixed the problem in about 30s with improvised tools. Doesn't make much of a case for learning new languages just for the sake of possible UT malfunction.

TOS showed that crewmen have different native languages. I assume the UT is what allows different Earth cultures to keep their own languages. If they were removed, would humans have difficulty understanding one another?