^But that just raises the question of when Spock would've learned Romulan. So it doesn't really answer the question, it just displaces it.
Since *when* does Kirk speak perfect Romulan?
- Thread starter Chrisisall
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I believe the non-canon novelization mentioned that Maltz new it wasn't Kruge, but beamed him up since he figured there must be something wrong with Kruge and he wasn't coming.
As for speaking one word of Klingon, I don't speak Spanish, but I can say Muchas gracias, and a few other sayings.
Wow. That's VEEERRRY good, Chris!
Perhaps he had UTs in his ear canals and something analogous in his larnyx?
I agree. I thought about this for about one second when I was a kid and I said well what do I expect them to do...have the audience read subtitles every week for the sake of realism? Besides....The Universal Translator that they sometimes and sometimes don't refer to is a technology that is beyond our capabilities to understand.
It's got nothing on Mission: Impossible. In that show's universe, there are dozens and dozens of fictitious or nameless Eastern European countries, and you have to accept that either:
a) All the various IMF team members are omnilingual and can speak fluently enough in the language of every country they visit to successfully impersonate natives, even when they only have hours' or days' advance notice for mission prep; or
b) The entire population of Eastern Europe habitually speaks English with a vaguely Germanic or Russian-sounding accent, even though their signage is always written in Gellerese (a fake foreign language where every word is close enough to English to be easily deciphered by English-speaking viewers).
And the only reason it *does* work is because the rest of the Enterprise survivors have already taken over the Klingon ship, and are forcing Maltz to beam Kirk up.
As for this, though, I agree that Kirk probably does speak fluent Romulan, having had plenty of time to learn it prior to undertaking the mission.
No way man, the wind & explosions masked Kirk's 23rd Century Federation English accent.
We don't know for sure how many people there were on the ship at that point. Maltz + Kruge + the boarding party need not be the entire crew. But unless Sulu was completely off the mark, the ship would indeed have been virtually deserted, and it might have been possible to overpower the remaining crew.
Imagine the situation: Maltz has a transporter operator, so he himself opts to stay on the bridge, trying to monitor what is going on with his captain. The transporter operator beams up the other Feds (which we know can be done without letting them carry weapons or otherwise prepare for an attack) and then holds them at gunpoint in the corner of the transporter room (since he can't leave his post to take them to a more secure place). But when "Kruge"/Kirk commands a beam-up, the attention of the transporter operator is divided. When Kirk's arrival surprises him, it's quite easy to believe that he could be overpowered.
There are probably some serious fast-learning techniques or technologies available in the 23rd century. Remember how fast they got Uhura back to speed after "The Changeling"? (Although that particular case of insta-education probably hinged on Uhura actually remembering some stuff, contrary to McCoy's initial assessment.) It only makes sense that Kirk might learn a new language in a week, only to forget it soon thereafter as the drugs, hypnosis or nanites wore off...
Such technologies would of course see little use in civilian life, because the UT would make them largely irrelevant.
Timo Saloniemi
Imagine the situation: Maltz has a transporter operator, so he himself opts to stay on the bridge, trying to monitor what is going on with his captain. The transporter operator beams up the other Feds (which we know can be done without letting them carry weapons or otherwise prepare for an attack) and then holds them at gunpoint in the corner of the transporter room (since he can't leave his post to take them to a more secure place). But when "Kruge"/Kirk commands a beam-up, the attention of the transporter operator is divided. When Kirk's arrival surprises him, it's quite easy to believe that he could be overpowered.
There are probably some serious fast-learning techniques or technologies available in the 23rd century. Remember how fast they got Uhura back to speed after "The Changeling"? (Although that particular case of insta-education probably hinged on Uhura actually remembering some stuff, contrary to McCoy's initial assessment.) It only makes sense that Kirk might learn a new language in a week, only to forget it soon thereafter as the drugs, hypnosis or nanites wore off...
Such technologies would of course see little use in civilian life, because the UT would make them largely irrelevant.
Timo Saloniemi
Just watched "Enterprise Incident", and there were two instances where Kirk, dressed as a Centurian, spoke to Romulan dudes on the Romulan Flagship, and there was no "What? You speak strangely!" or anything.
Or, is there a Universal Translator in his fake Romulan ear?
Let's just say a wizard did it.
To be sure, can we figure out what happens to Romulan grunts who say something like that?
The Romulan ship was probably teeming with special personnel who would be nursing the new cloaking device. It would only make sense that the guards wouldn't recognize every one of them by sight, or even be allowed to question them. If they sounded funny, well, that's the prerogative of eccentric engineers imported via the local Operation Paperclip...
Timo Saloniemi
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