Why Can't Uhura Speak Klingon in Star Trek VI; Is She a Diffrent Person After Nomad

[Nerys Myk]

Can anyone translate what Chekov is saying in that scene?

"'I'm not even supposed to be here today."

 

[Drone]

This is an interesting video I made, let me know what you think.

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Is that actually how you normally speak or are you putting on airs? If the latter, you may want to reconsider, as it makes it hard to understand what you're saying at times.

Actually, most of the main characters on Voyager had at least one hobby (I'm blanking on anything for Kes and B'Elanna).
.

Airponics and self-abuse.

Did we see any of this life-long learning in TOS? Or in TNG for that matter? Picard chose to know a little bit about everything. Janeway chose to know a little bit about everything related to physical sciences and engineering. Kirk chose to know a bit about 19th century United States, and that was pretty much it. Sisko chose not to reveal knowledge of anything at all... And that's the commanding officers: the record is grimmer for the lower ranks.
Timo Saloniemi

To refute your last point, I need do no more than point to one Mortimer Harren.

Since Chekov has a Russian accent in the TOS episodes (the 23rd equivalent, as I understand Walter Koenig's accent wasn't quite authentic), we should infer that he does in fact speak Russian.
.

Is that really an intuitive understanding of how accents develop? I'll warrant that I know nothing about language acquisition, but isn't it plausible that being brought up in a family and close social network that shares that characteristic sound of intonation, speed of dialogue, and numerous other qualities, doesn't, as a matter of course, imply that the person might very well inherit those aural qualities, without having to necessarily speak the language that all the other members of the extended community do as well? I'm not sure what my opinion is of his having known Russian and just never displaying it before, but he did have a former squeeze who showed up once and was also of Russian descent, so maybe that increased the likelihood that he was a native speaker. OTOH, Irina may not have known Russian either, so no particular factor of advantage might have carried over from that connection.

 

[Greg Cox]

I'm willing to take for granted that Chekov spoke Russian just because his fierce pride in all things Russian was pretty much his whole schtick . . . . .

Uhura, on the other hand, wasn't constantly gushing about how much she loved learning new languages and how proud she was about being multi-lingual. (Unlike, say, Hoshi on ENTERPRISE.)

 

[Terok Nor]

I know everyone hates this scene but I crack up every time I see it. I think they were trying to recreate the also funny scene from TVH when Chekov and Uhura were looking for the nuclear wessels.

 

[Drone]

Chekov's first use of Russian is in Star Trek III when the computer alerts them of the security breach in Spock's quarters. After Kirk departs, Chekov turns to Scotty and says something in Russian.

Can anyone translate what Chekov is saying in that scene?

I think we may need to break out the vodka soon.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I did some checking. Apparently this is the closest English translation of Chekov's Russian lines.

Chekov: I'm not crazy!
Scotty: Huh?
Chekov: (points at monitor) There it is.

 

[Tosk]

Is that actually how you normally speak or are you putting on airs?

Sounds a little bit like an ill-advised Red Letter Media guy impersonation. (Especially with the intentional cutting off at the end of a sentence.)

...And the music is too loud.

 

[DarKush]

The idea that Uhura is a brilliant linguist is nowhere be found in the original series or movies. She was the communications officer and an expert concerning comm systems, but she relied on the Universal Translator just as much as Kirk and the other.

I wouldn't say its nowhere to be found...in the films at least. Wasn't Uhura teaching at the Academy before the crew was pressed back into service to escort Gorkon's ship in Star Trek VI? To me that would connote that she has some language expertise. If someone has already pointed this out, my apologies. I didn't read the whole thread.

 

[JoeZhang]

I wouldn't say its nowhere to be found...in the films at least. Wasn't Uhura teaching at the Academy before the crew was pressed back into service to escort Gorkon's ship in Star Trek VI? To me that would connote that she has some language expertise. If someone has already pointed this out, my apologies. I didn't read the whole thread.

Why would teaching at the academy indicate language expertise????

Looking at the transcript of the film, it's not even clear that she is teaching at the academy anywhere - she just says she is "chairing a seminar" - I often chair events and seminars at other institutions but it doesn't mean I work there full-time or teach there...

 

[DarKush]

^
Teaching at the academy indicates that the teacher is knowledgeable or is assumed to be. And I can infer that since Uhura is a communications officer, I can assume (perhaps wrongly) that she is teaching something about language. But good point about the transcript. I haven't looked at the film transcript and I haven't seen the movie in a very long time, and I thought that they had said she was teaching at the Academy.

 

[Kor]

Even if she was teaching a class, maybe it was a technical class on standard communication protocols, frequencies and such, and operating and servicing the communications console and related equipment on a starship or starbase. You could probably spend a whole term studying that stuff!

Before ENT, it was never depicted in Trek that being a communications technician had anything to do with linguistic skills.

Kor

 

[Tosk]

Teaching at the academy indicates that the teacher is knowledgeable or is assumed to be. And I can infer that since Uhura is a communications officer, I can assume (perhaps wrongly) that she is teaching something about language.

Even if she was teaching, she could have been giving singing lessons for all we know. We saw her sing more often than we did speak other languages.

 

[scotpens]

Since Chekov has a Russian accent in the TOS episodes (the 23rd equivalent, as I understand Walter Koenig's accent wasn't quite authentic), we should infer that he does in fact speak Russian.

There's also the bit in "Spectre of the Gun" where all the bridge personnel hear the Melkotians' warning in their respective native languages. Chekov says, "It was Russian, sir. Every word."

 

[Timo]

Ah, very good point. So we now get our third reference to Uhura knowing Swahili, and our second to it being her "natural" language. And we learn Spock's native language is "Vulcan" and Kirk's "English", although those may be oversimplifications for more diverse language families. Also, various generic-Caucasian bridge officers, with higher rank that Chekov's and thus a better excuse to open their mouths, make no comment, suggesting that English (or then Vulcan or Russian or Swahili!) is prevalent among the crew.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[JoeZhang]

^
Teaching at the academy indicates that the teacher is knowledgeable or is assumed to be. And I can infer that since Uhura is a communications officer, I can assume (perhaps wrongly) that she is teaching something about language. But good point about the transcript. I haven't looked at the film transcript and I haven't seen the movie in a very long time, and I thought that they had said she was teaching at the Academy.

I see don't get how people are making this leap - my PhD is in information sciences - they are underpinned by the computer sciences, I know nothing about the computer sciences. I teach nothing about computer sciences.

Communications and telecommunications engineers are highly skilled individuals in 2016 who work in an area of high level of complexity and the sciences in this this area are cutting edge and complex, so why cannot Uhura simply be a highly intelligent well trained and knowledge individual around the area of communications?

 

[DarKush]

^
Okay fine. She's knowledgeable enough about something to be chairing a seminar or teaching something at the Academy. It's not that big of a deal to me.

 

[urbandefault]

Uhura never spoke Klingon onscreen before the 2009 film.

In TUC they explained why they couldn't use the universal translator, and looking for responses in a "How to Speak Klingon" book was a comedic turn. If it didn't quite work, oh well. Much bigger movies have had much bigger "oopsies."

I don't know why this is an issue.

 

[Kor]

Way back when the movie was being made, Nichelle Nichols felt that her character should have carried the scene by speaking fluent Klingon. It certainly would have been more dignified than the throwaway gag scene we ended up with.

Kor

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Wasn't the begining of the scene showing Chang speaking Klingon, then we go through on a smooth set of edits showing the translators through to Chang still speaking, but now in English? Sort of a visual set up to show the audience 'he is speaking this, but we as the films audience are hearing this'?

That's exactly it. Chang was speaking Klingon throughout the whole trial. We just heard English because of dramatic license.

 

[Kor]

Yes, just one of the elements of this movie that was "borrowed" from The Hunt For Red October.

Kor