last night on late night

SNL Broaches a Delicate Star Wars Topic: How the Hell Is Everyone Fluent in So Many Languages?

If you often find yourself pondering how everyone in the Star Wars universe can seamlessly switch from Shyriiwook to droidspeak to Huttese without as much as a mere stumble, the sci-fi enthusiasts over at SNL thought the exact same thing. Hence, please enjoy this J.J. Abrams-approved sketch — originally cut for time — which finally gives monolinguists a voice of reason with Charles Barkley’s space traveler character. “How do you all speak so many languages? This is crazy. I only speak human,” he mused in all of the hubbub. “These aliens are talking to you in their language, you’re answering them back in our language, everybody understands each other. It makes me feel stupid, how’d ya’ll learn all this?” And later: “Guys, include me!” Poor guy. Let’s all chip in to buy him a Rosetta Stone book or something.

SNL: How Is Everyone in Star Wars Fluent in Every Language?