History Main / SwitchToEnglish

Unlike TranslationConvention or TranslatorMicrobes, the characters who SwitchToEnglish ''really are'' speaking English.[[hottip:*: Or something else. It depends on who's watching.]] Usually, a specific reason will be given in the work for characters switching to a different language in mid-conversation. There are many ways that the switch can happen.

** For a bit of context, Michael is fluent in several languages (as befitting a former CIA field agent), but not Spanish. Given that he was born and raised in Miami, this is funny.

* In the ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' episode ''The Cycling Tour,'' Creator/JohnCleese is a Soviet officer making a speech in Russian to fellow Soviets, pausing for the subtitles to show, and then says in Russian, "Forgive me if I continue in English in order to save time."

Keep in mind that some examples of TranslationConvention [[SquarePegRoundTrope can be mistaken for this]]. This trope only applies if there is a reason ''in universe'' for the characters to be speaking in a language the audience can understand instead of the characters' own. This does not apply to situations where the characters speak English for the convenience of the audience, but are understood to be actually speaking another language. Also compare CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator, which is about a character speaking to someone through a translator only to reveal that he actually speaks their language perfectly fluently.

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!!Examples

[[AC:{{Film}}]]
* Japanese-American O-Ren Ishii in ''[[KillBill Kill Bill, Vol. 1]]'' precedes a speech to Yakuza members by explaining in Japanese why she's about to switch to English. "So you all will know the seriousness of my warning, I shall say this in English."

* ''MoscowOnTheHudson'': During an early scene in Russia, two characters decide to practice their English by continuing their conversation in English.

* In ''TheTransporter'', a Chinese father tells his daughter to converse in English with him (even though she speaks perfect Chinese), because language school was expensive.
* In the movie version of ''TheDaVinciCode,'' two French characters have conversations in English, via the "you have to practice this foreign language" excuse.
* In ''Film/StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', Klingons speak Klingon with subtitles to set the mood and then speak English for convenience.

* In ''JohnnyMnemonic'', Takahashi and Shinji begin a conversation in Japanese, before Takahashi chastises Shinji for speaking "terrible" Japanese and demands Shinji talk to him in English. Towards the end of their conversation, Takahashi switches to English, as well.
* In ''GungHo,'' Takahara Kazuhiro's wife starts speaking Japanese to him in one scene, but he tells her to practice her English and they continue the conversation in English.
* In the JackieChan movie ''RumbleInTheBronx'', Jackie comes to America and meets up with his uncle. The two speak in Chinese for a while but his uncle soon asks, "How's your English?". Jackie mentions that his English is passable so his uncle insists they speak it from that point on. The rest of the film is in English.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]
* In an episode of ''BurnNotice'', Micheal pretended to be a Russian spy. He began talking to a contact in Russian, who suggested switching to Spanish, because his Russian was rusty. They settled on English instead.
* Often happens in ''CovertAffairs''. Annie will find her contact, [[CunningLinguist begin speaking to them in their native language]] and then the contact will say something about being fluent in English and from there on out they will speak in English.
* In the ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' episode ''The Cycling Tour,'' JohnCleese is a Soviet officer making a speech in Russian to fellow Soviets, pausing for the subtitles to show, and then says in Russian, "Forgive me if I continue in English in order to save time."

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* In ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}'', two Vortigaunts are speaking to each other in their native language, but when they notice Gordon Freeman is listening in nearby, they apologize for their rudeness and switch to English.
* This happens at the very beginning of ''GrandTheftAutoIV''. Niko tries to speak to his cousin Roman in Serbian, but Roman switches to English, because he has not spoken Serbian for so long that he has forgotten it.

[[AC:RealLife]]
* Can be an example of TruthInTelevision. Many people who have immigrated to another country may speak in the language most common in their new country instead of their native tongue for convenience's sake.

* In ''StarTrekTheMotionPicture'', Klingons speak Klingon with subtitles to set the mood and then speak English for convenience.

Usually, a specific reason will be given in the work for characters switching to a different language in mid-conversation, and there are many ways that the switch can happen. Sometimes Alice and Bob might discover that they are both from an English-speaking country and don't need to speak the language of the country they are in to each other. Maybe Alice will suggest to switch to English because she knows it better than the current language of the conversation. Perhaps they don't know English as a first language and will suggest that they practice their English. And so forth. If this is done poorly, it can be jarring and seem forced, especially if English is a second or third language for the characters and they have no good reason to switch.

Some examples of TranslationConvention can be mistaken for this. This trope only applies if there is a reason ''in universe'' for the characters to be speaking in a language the audience can understand instead of the characters' own. This does not apply to situations where the characters speak English for convenience, but are understood to be actually speaking another language. Also compare CompletelyUnnecessaryTranslator, which is about a character speaking to someone through a translator only to reveal that he actually speaks their language perfectly fluently.

Characters begin speaking in a language that is not English[[hottip:*:''English'' meaning ''the language with which the intended audience would be most familiar'', but a single word is easier to write and read.]] but find an excuse to switch to English so that the audience doesn't have to read too many of those pesky subtitles.

* In ''BrothersAndSisters'', Sarah is in France and attempts to ask for directions from a Frenchman. After much struggling, the Frenchman casually reveals he can speak English and the rest of their conversations stays in English.

* In ''HalfLife2'', two Vortigaunts are speaking to each other in their native language, but when they notice Gordon Freeman is listening in nearby, they apologize for their rudeness and switch to English.

** Used as a plot point in "The Christmas Invasion", where the change to English means that [[spoiler:the Doctor has recovered]]

** Used as a plot point in "The Christmas Invasion", where the change to English means that [[Spoiler:the Doctor has recovered]]

Characters begin speaking in a language that is not English[[hottip:*:''English'' meaning ''the language with which the intended audience would be most familiar'', but a single word is easier to write and read.]] but find an excuse to switch to English so that that the audience won't have to read too many of those pesky subtitles.

Characters start out speaking their natural language, but find an excuse to switch to the language that the audience is most familiar with. The second language can be English or any other language.

AliceAndBob are having a conversation that is not in English[[hottip:*:''English'' meaning ''the language with which the intended audience would be most familiar'', but a single word is easier to write and read.]], but the work's creators don't want their audience to deal with reading lots of those pesky subtitles. Therefore, to make the dialogue easier to follow, Alice and Bob can just switch to English as they continue their conversation.

* O-Ren Ishii in ''[[KillBill Kill Bill, Vol. 1]]'': "So you all will know the seriousness of my warning, I shall say this in English." (But she said it in Japanese.)

* In the movie ''JohnnyMnemonic'', Takahashi and Shinji begin a conversation in Japanese, before Takahashi chastises Shinji for speaking "terrible" Japanese and demands Shinji talk to him in English. Towards the end of their conversation, Takahashi switches to English, as well.

AliceAndBob are having a conversation that is not in English[[hottip:*:"English" meaning "the language with which the intended audience would be most familiar", but a single word is easier to write and read.]], but the work's creators don't want their audience to deal with reading lots of those pesky subtitles. Therefore, to make the dialogue easier to follow, Alice and Bob can just switch to English as they continue their conversation.

AliceAndBob are having a conversation that is not in English,[[hottip:*:When we say ''English'', we mean ''the language with which the intended audience would be most familiar'', but a single word is easier to write and read.]] but the work's creators don't want their audience to deal with reading lots of those pesky subtitles. Therefore, to make the dialogue easier to follow, Alice and Bob can just switch to English as they continue their conversation.

AliceAndBob are having a conversation that is not in English,[[hottip:*:When we say "English", we mean "the language with which the intended audience would be most familiar", but a single word is easier to write and read.]] but the work's creators don't want their audience to deal with reading lots of those pesky subtitles. Therefore, to make the dialogue easier to follow, Alice and Bob can just switch to English as they continue their conversation.

AliceAndBob are having a conversation that is not in English (or, at least, not in the language with which the intended audience would be most familiar), but the work's creators don't want their audience to deal with reading lots of those pesky subtitles. Therefore, to make the dialogue easier to follow, Alice and Bob can just switch to English as they continue their conversation.

* In ''InglouriousBasterds'', Colonol Hans Landa is speaking to a dairy farmer in French, and he suggests that they switch to English because it is better than his French. [[spoiler:This is a lie, of course. The real reason is that the Jews that the farmer is hiding do not speak English, and Landa doesn't want to alert them to his suspicions too soon.]]

* In ''TheManWithTwoBrains'', Dr. Hfuhruhurr gets pulled over by a German-speaking policeman. When he replies to the policeman in English, the policeman says, "Oh, you speak English! Good!" and directs his partner to [[FunWithSUbtitles turn off the subtitles.]]

* Inverted in ''TheLegendofZorro''. After the title character rescues his son from the BigBad's gang, they start a conversation in English. Then Zorro cuts the conversation off and requests that they converse in "the language of our fathers" -- Spanish. The rest of the conversation occurs in Spanish with English subtitles.

* In the ''MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' episode ''The Cycling Tour,'' JohnCleese is a Soviet officer making a speech in Russain to fellow Soviets, pausing for the subtitles to show, and then says in Russain, "Forgive me if I continue in English in order to save time."
* In the ''DoctorWho'' episode "The Curse of Fenric", a group of Russian soldiers are on a secret mission in England. The first scene has them speaking Russian with subtitles, then their leader says "From now on, we speak only English", and they do.

* In multilingual families,a conversation can start in one language, switch to another, and then switch back again. This is often because concepts may be easier to express in one language than the other.

* Frequently happened in ''UntilTheEndOfTheWorld'': Claire variously spoke French and English, and also some German. She frequently switched to English to converse with others

* In the ''StarTrek'' movie, Klingons speak Klingon with subtitles to set the mood and then speak English for convenience.
* Inverted in ''TheLegendofZorro''. After the titular character rescues his son from the BigBad's gang, they start a conversation in English. Then Zorro cuts the conversation off and requests that they converse in "the language of our fathers" -- that is, Spanish. The rest of the conversation occurs in Spanish (with English subtitles, of course.)

Usually, a specific reason will be given in the work for characters switching to a different language in mid-conversation, and there are many ways that the switch can happen. Sometimes this will happen naturally. Alice and Bob might discover that they are both from an English-speaking country when in and don't need to speak the language of the country they are in to each other. Maybe Alice will suggest to switch to English because she knows it better than the current language of the conversation. Perhaps they don't know English as a first language and will suggest that they practice their English. And so forth. If this is done poorly, it can be jarring and seem forced, especially if English is a second or third language for the characters and they have no good reason to switch.

* In ""TheManWithTwoBrains'', Dr. Hfuhruhurr gets pulled over by a German-speaking policeman. When he replies to the policeman in English, the policeman says, "Oh, you speak English! Good!" and directs his partner to [[FunWithSUbtitles turn off the subtitles.]]

* Inverted in ''TheLegendofZorro'.' After the titular character rescues his son from the BigBad's gang, they start a conversation in English. Then Zorro cuts the conversation off and requests that they converse in "the language of our fathers" -- that is, Spanish. The rest of the conversation occurs in Spanish (with English subtitles, of course.)

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* In ''HalfLife2'', two Vortigaunts are speaking to each other in their native language, but when they notice Gordon Freeman is listening in nearby, they apologize for their rudeness and switch to English.
* This happens at the very beginning of ''GrandTheftAutoIV''. Niko tries to speak to his cousin Roman in Serbian, but Roman switches to English, because he has not spoken Serbian for so long that he has forgotten it.

* O-Ren Ishii in [[KillBill Kill Bill Volume 1]]: "So you all will know the seriousness of my warning, I shall say this in English." (But she said it in Japanese.)
* In ''InglouriousBasterds,'' Colonol Hans Landa is speaking to a dairy farmer in French, and he suggests that they switch to English because it is better than his French. [[spoiler:This is a lie, of course. The real reason is that the Jews that the farmer is hiding do not speak English, and Landa doesn't want to alert them to his suspicions too soon.]]

* In ""TheManWithTwoBrains,'' Dr. Hfuhruhurr gets pulled over by a German-speaking policeman. When he replies to the policeman in English, the policeman says, "Oh, you speak English! Good!" and directs his partner to [[FunWithSUbtitles turn off the subtitles.]]

* In ''TheTransporter,'' a Chinese father tells his daughter to converse in English with him (even though she speaks perfect Chinese), because language school was expensive.

* Inverted in ''TheLegendofZorro.'' After the titular character rescues his son from the BigBad's gang, they start a conversation in English. Then Zorro cuts the conversation off and requests that they converse in "the language of our fathers" -- that is, Spanish. The rest of the conversation occurs in Spanish (with English subtitles, of course.)
* In the movie JohnnyMnemonic, Takahashi and Shinji begin a conversation in Japanese, before Takahashi chastises Shinji for speaking "terrible" Japanese and demands Shinji talk to him in English. Towards the end of their conversation, Takahashi switches to English, as well.

* In the JackieChan movie RumbleInTheBronx, Jackie comes to America and meets up with his uncle. The two speak in Chinese for a while but his uncle soon asks, "How's your English?". Jackie mentions that his English is passable so his uncle insists they speak it from that point on. The rest of the film is in English.

* In an episode of ''BurnNotice,'' Micheal pretended to be a Russian spy. He began talking to a contact in Russian, who suggested switching to Spanish, because his Russian was rusty. They settled on English instead.
* Often happens in ''CovertAffairs.'' Annie will find her contact, [[CunningLinguist begin speaking to them in their native language]] and then the contact will say something about being fluent in English and from there on out they will speak in English.

* In ''BrothersAndSisters,'' Sarah is in France and attempts to ask for directions from a Frenchman. After much struggling, the Frenchman casually reveals he can speak English and the rest of their conversations stays in English.

* In ''HalfLife2,'' two Vortigaunts are speaking to each other in their native language, but when they notice Gordon Freeman is listening in nearby, they apologize for their rudeness and switch to English.
* This happens at the very beginning of ''GrandTheftAutoIV.'' Niko tries to speak to his cousin Roman in Serbian, but Roman switches to English, because he has not spoken Serbian for so long that he has forgotten it.

AliceAndBob are having a conversation, and and it is not in English (or at least, not in the language that the intended audience will be speaking). Therefore, they will need to have lots of those pesky subtitles.

To make the dialogue easier to follow, they could switch over to English. There are many ways the switch can happen. Sometimes this will happen naturally. Alice and Bob might discover that they are each from an English speaking country and don't need to speak the language of the country they are in to each other. Maybe Alice will suggest to switch to English because she knows it better than the current language of the conversation. Occasionally, Alice will suggest that they practice their English, which gives non-native English speakers an excuse to talk without subtitles. If done poorly, it can be jarring and seem forced, especially if English is a second or third language for the characters and they have no good reason to switch.

See also EloquentInMyNativeTongue, which can be an inverse of this trope, as it may start with them speaking an unfamiliar language and switch to a more comfortable one.

* In ''InglouriousBasterds,'' Colonol Hans Landa is speaking to a dairy farmer in French, and he suggests that they switch to English because it is better than his French.

* In ''TheTransporter,'' a Chinese father tells his daughter to converse in English with him (even though she speaks perfect Chinese), because language school was expensive.
* In the movie version of ''TheDaVinciCode,'' two French characters have conversations in English, via the "you have to practice this foreign language" excuse.