I almost thought that the syntax (is that the correct word) that Neelix used made him sound like Yoda. Almost, not quite.

A great idea and well done too. Made you wonder how they fared on Hanon IV in Basics, but I do get that Standard would be the common language, like English now, French 2 centuries ago in Western Europe. Would most probably be compulsory at the Academy.

This is awesome-the translator not working-such an awesome concept-love this.

There could be more stories about how other people stumbled along through that day.

I'm just saying.

This is such a lovely confection of a story that explores an interesting deeper issue - why is it that, in Trek, humans so often default to American? 3 of the humans on Voyager are canonically not only from Earth but from the US! I love the idea that John and Miral raised B'Elanna on a colony with its own specific culture, separate from that of the rest of Earth. Given how many languages are currently spoken on Earth, I have a hard time believing they'd all die away, even after 400 years.

Also, it's canon that B'Elanna lived with her father and mother until at least 5 years ago. So, you know, well past the age when she would have learned her 'native' language. Even if Miral made her move to Qo'noS after John (and, other than knowing she spent some time in a Klingon monastery, we don't know how much time B'Elanna spent on Qo'noS) it doesn't erase that she almost certainly learned a human language when she was a toddler. So, having her speak Spanish makes PERFECT sense.

B'lanna most likely speaks Klingon most as she was raised by her Klingon mother. Her father abandoned her as a child.

A brilliantly clever idea to highlight this. I think you are right - why would all the members of one species speak just a single language? Multiply the number of native tongues on Earth by the number if planets in the Federation ... and you probably have tens if not hundreds of thousands of languages and dialects.

Loss of the universal translator would pretty much bring Voyager to a standstill instantaneously and be far more devastating than most mechanical problems.

I wonder how they managed on Hanon IV ? Perhaps you are correct and they are some sort of subcutaneous implant...

This is a very interesting idea. Often in some of the islands that made up the British Empire, a form of English and native words were combined to make what became known as pudgen-english. I'm not sure if I have spelt that right, no dictionary handy!
Maybe Federation Standard was along the same lines?! Sometimes we forget that technology can only do so much, the rest should be up to us to use our brains more.
I like this great.

He lived in future California, he knew Spanish he was just being a pendejo.

I'm seriously impressed by this story. Well done!

This was a really lovely glimpse into a moment that very easily could’ve happened between Tom and B’Elanna. I had never considered the language aspect, but the way you imagine it makes complete sense to me. Thank you for sharing!