Originally posted by: Adamwankenobi
Guys... WTF?

Next you'll be telling me they speak English in Star Wars!

To elaborate on that idea let me explain something. Think of it like this - how would you tell a story about Star Wars WITHOUT the movie? That's right, with words. Either through english text (such as a book) or orally (such as a camp fire story, or the radio dramas). Star Wars is told in the language it was conceived in. Namely English, because we in America speak it.

If Star Wars were based on true events, I highly doubt that English was the primary language of the galaxy. But you can't tell the story of Star Wars in a foreign language that nobody understands.

People in the Star Wars universe ARE NOT (or DID not if you are thinking in "long, long ago" terms) speak English. They never did. But the movie was filmed in English. It's just a format for telling a story.

So when you see something like "Tractor Beam Power Level" on the readout that Obi-Wan is shutting down in ANH, it wouldn't really say "Tractor Beam Power Level," but we as an audiance don't know what "##~~~~+++" means in the Star Wars universe language. For all we know it could say "Darth Vader was here." (which is why I object to the DVD change. How are non-star wars fans supposed to know what the power readout says? Nobody speaks that Star Wars language whatever it is supposed to be, nor can anyone read it.)

The movie has to be presented in a format that we understand. That is why the movie is translated into other languages around the world. No, Yoda doesn't really speak French, no Vader really isn't German, but it's just a way of getting the story across.

So when you hear something like what Wedge says in ESB - "Good luck Luke! See you at the rendezvous!" you don't freak out because you question why someone in the Star Wars universe just used a French word. Well, Wedge says "rendezvous" because there is no English word that means "predetermined meeting place." We have to use foreign words. English has always been like that.
It's just a story being told orally, (plus a whole lot of totally bitchin' graphics.) The Star Wars universe doesn't speak in English, but we do.