History Main / CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator

* In late 19th and early 20th centuries, many military officers were multilingual and could carry on BilingualDialogue. In some cases, however, this was abused as a point of insult. For example, in 1940, the British and French high commands were not [[WeAreStrugglingTogether especially cordial]] with each other, despite being allies. French General Gamelin, the supreme commander of the allied ground forces in France, had habit of holding joint meetings speaking only in French that was spoken so rapidly and peremptorily that even the bilingual British generals had trouble understanding.

* ''Series/{{Andor}}'': It becomes clear that the Aldhani elder is competent at [[CommonTongue Basic]] given his reaction to lieutenant Gorn's TactfulTranslation. He understandably refuses to make things any easier on the Imperials currently colonizing his world and carrying out cultural genocide on his people though.

* ''Series/{{Daredevil|2015}}'': James Wesley acts as a translator between the leaders of the gangs that work with Wilson Fisk. It turns out Madame Gao can speak English (she can speak ''[[{{Omniglot}} all]]'' languages), but pretends not to as part of her ObfuscatingStupidity. Nobu, meanwhile, can speak English fluently, but not ''perfectly'', making Wesley's translation [[DownplayedTrope non-vital, but not entirely redundant]] -- mostly Nobu just takes issue with Wesley [[TactfulTranslation watering down his words]]. And Fisk can speak Mandarin and Japanese, and has Wesley translate for him so that his associates underestimate him. Wesley acts annoyed when Madame Gao calls him and Fisk out on their ruse.

* Angela Merkel was a straight A student in the GDR and as such learned Russian in school (and got good grades in Russian, too) whereas Vladimir Putin was posted to Dresden as a KGB agent in the 1980s and speaks enough German that he once gave a speech in German to the German parliament. Still, when the two meet in official capacities they'll have a translator and besides a few pleasantries will always speak their native language.

* France, Germany, and Italy at the time of EU's founding (or, more accurately, European Coal and Steel Community that eventually morphed into EU) were all led by "Germans" who spoke the language more or less natively: Konrad Adenauer, the German leader, obviously, was a German. Robert Schuman, the French leader, was a Lorrainer (his father was from the part of Lorraine that became part of Germany after Franco-Prussian War, although Schuman himself was born in Luxembourg--but the part of Lorraine his father was from was just across the border from Luxembourg.) who was mostly educated in Germany and was starting a law practice in German-ruled Alsace when World War I broke out (and became French only when France retook Alsace after World War I--supposedly, he never lost his German accent even as a long-time French politician.); Alcide de Gasperi, the Italian leader, was a Tyroler who was educated mostly in Vienna and practiced law (and served as an MP) in Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I started (and became an Italian only after the war, like Schuman). Supposedly, this fact, and the fact that these men often discussed matters among themselves in German over beer, made others suspicious that ECSC was really a conspiracy of Catholic Germans (all three were also devout Catholics and were de facto founders of Christian Democratic movements in their respective countries) to recreate the Holy Roman Empire. Of course they spoke German, French, and Italian at the official meetings with the appropriate translators in attendance, but that was not where the important things got discussed by the leaders of the three big countries.

* France, Germany, and Italy at the time of EU's founding (or, more accurately, European Coal and Steel Community that eventually morphed into EU) were all led by "Germans" who spoke the language more or less natively: Konrad Adenauer, obviously, was a German. Robert Schuman, the French leader, was a Lorrainer (his father was from the part of Lorraine that became part of Germany after Franco-Prussian War, although Schuman himself was born in Luxembourg) who was mostly educated in Germany and was starting a law practice in German-ruled Alsace when World War I broke out (and became French only when France retook Alsace after World War I--supposedly, he never lost his German accent even as a long-time French politician.); Alcide de Gasperi, the Italian leader, was a Tyroler who was educated mostly in Vienna and practiced law (and served as an MP) in Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I started (and became an Italian only after the war, like Schuman). Supposedly, this fact, and the fact that these men often unofficially discussed matters among by themselves in German over beer, made others suspicious that ECSC was really a conspiracy of Catholic Germans (all three were also devout Catholics and were de facto founders of Christian Democratic movements in their respective countries) to recreate the Holy Roman Empire. Of course they spoke German, French, and Italian at the official meetings with the appropriate translators in attendance, but that was not where the important things got discussed by the leaders of the three big countries.

* France, Germany, and Italy at the time of EU's founding (or, more accurately, European Coal and Steel Community that eventually morphed into EU) were all led by "Germans" who spoke the language more or less natively: Konrad Adenauer, obviously, was a German. Robert Schuman, the French leader, was a Lorrainer (his father was from the part of Lorraine that became part of Germany after Franco-Prussian War, although Schuman himself was born in Luxembourg) who was mostly educated in Germany and was starting a law practice in German-ruled Alsace when World War I broke out (and became French only when France retook Alsace after World War I--supposedly, he never lost his German accent even as a long-time French politician.); Alcide de Gasperi, the Italian leader, was a Tyroler who was educated mostly in Vienna and began practicing law in Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I started (and became an Italian only after the war, like Schuman). Supposedly, this fact, and the fact that these men often unofficially discussed matters among by themselves in German over beer, made others suspicious that ECSC was really a conspiracy of Catholic Germans (all three were also devout Catholics and were de facto founders of Christian Democratic movements in their respective countries) to recreate the Holy Roman Empire. Of course they spoke German, French, and Italian at the official meetings with the appropriate translators in attendance, but that was not where the important things got discussed by the leaders of the three big countries.

* France, Germany, and Italy at the time of EU's founding (or, more accurately, European Coal and Steel Community that eventually morphed into EU) were all led by "Germans" who spoke the language more or less natively: Konrad Adenauer, obviously, was a German. Robert Schuman, the French leader, was a Lorrainer (his father was from the part of Lorraine that became part of Germany after Franco-Prussian War, although Schuman himself was born in Luxembourg) who was mostly educated in Germany and was starting a law practice in German-ruled Alsace when World War I broke out (and became French only when France retook Alsace after World War I); Alcide de Gasperi, the Italian leader, was a Tyroler who was educated mostly in Vienna and began practicing law in Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I started (and became an Italian only after the war, like Schuman). Supposedly, this fact, and the fact that these men often unofficially discussed matters among by themselves in German over beer, made others suspicious that ECSC was really a conspiracy of Catholic Germans (all three were also devout Catholics and were de facto founders of Christian Democratic movements in their respective countries) to recreate the Holy Roman Empire. Of course they spoke German, French, and Italian at the official meetings with the appropriate translators in attendance, but that was not where the important things got discussed by the leaders of the three big countries.

* France, Germany, and Italy at the time of EU's founding (or, more accurately, European Coal and Steel Community that eventually morphed into EU) were all led by "Germans" who spoke the language more or less natively: Adenauer, obviously, was a German. Schuman, the French leader, was a Lorrainer (his father was from the part of Lorraine that became part of Germany after Franco-Prussian War, although Schuman himself was born in Luxembourg) who was mostly educated in Germany and was starting a law practice in Alsace when World War I broke out; Gasperi, the Italian leader, was a Tyroler who was educated mostly in Vienna and began practicing law in Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I started. Supposedly, this fact, and the fact that these men often unofficially discussed matters among by themselves in German over beer, made others suspicious that ECSC was really a conspiracy of Catholic Germans (all three were also devout Catholics and were de facto founders of Christian Democratic movements in their respective countries) to recreate a the Holy Roman Empire. Of course they spoke German, French, and Italian at the official meetings with the translators in attendance, but that was not where the important things got discussed by the leaders of the three big countries.

* France, Germany, and Italy at the time of EU's founding (or, more accurately, European Coal and Steel Community that eventually morphed into EU) were all led by "Germans" who spoke the language more or less natively: Adenauer, obviously, was a German. Schuman, the French leader, was a Lorrainer (his father was from the part of Lorraine that became part of Germany after Franco-Prussian War, although Schuman himself was born in Luxembourg) who was mostly educated in Germany and was starting a law practice in Alsace when World War I broke out; Gasperi, the Italian leader, was a Tyroler who was educated mostly in Vienna and began practicing law in Austro-Hungarian Empire before World War I started. Supposedly, this fact, and the fact that these men often unofficially discussed matters among by themselves in German over beer, made others suspicious that ECSC was really a conspiracy of Catholic Germans (all three were also devout Catholics and were de facto founders of Christian Democratic movements in their respective countries) to recreate a the Holy Roman Empire.