I decided to play a military build up game and completely ignore the 'translator' tech. I didn't want to talk to anyone. I go to war with Drengin. After they are cornered, I get a pop up and his leader is asking me to sign for peace. I was like, "huh?" How can you communicate with me when I don't have a translator? Not only was I able to make a deal, I was also able to talk to every other civ in the game by using the scroll button from the 'diplomacy screen'. When I was out of that screen, and then tried to talk any civ again, I got the normal 'you need a translator' pop up. This can't be right.