That’s how I saw it. People in the SW universe have a greater aptitude for understanding language, but have to be exposed to it for awhile. C3PO would still be useful for languages a person hasn’t been exposed to much.
Alternate theory: With the exception of Chewie, who’s hung around with Han long enough for Han to actually learn his language, most people in the SW universe can read subtitles.
If a smuggler is going to get any decent work done, he’s got to speak a few languages so he can deal with the right customers.
Oh, you mean like the way I learnt how to decypher hard drive spin cycles and proc operations by ear since I’ve been fiddling with computers pretty much my whole life ?.. Wait…
Greedo and Jabba speak Huttesian, which is the lingua franca of the criminal element. As for Chewie, Han’s been working with him for a long time, I suppose he picked up the essential words over time, like Hungry, Bathroom Break and That’s NOT A Checkmate, Look Again.
I always figured that Han could just understand Wookese since he and Chewie have contact so often…same with Jabba, although I could never really get Greedo either.
I do wanna say though…I started this thread kind of as a joke, and was looking forward to what everyone thought R2 actually said…but it seems to have taken a bit of a life of it’s own and people took me more seriously than I meant
oh well, happens I guess.
They actually published a guide to Star Wars languages, including Droid.
Dude, star wars is Serious Business. ;
That was what I meant. I believe The Tof expressed it better. R2-D2 seemed to be an exceptional droid, but after all, he was probably not the first R2 unit Luke encountered. Remember, Owen chose a different R2 unit to purchase from the Jawas, until it popped its cork.
On further reflection, you’re probably pretty close to the answer, too, Bosstone. Our pets can’t communicate to us in our own language. Well some birds can. But we mostly have to read our pets’ body language to try to figure out their wants at any particular moment. Luke undoubtedly figures out what Artoo is saying mostly from body language and from a particular situation’s context. Although when Artoo is hooked up into Luke’s X-Wing, he can plug into the nav-puter and display a text readout to Luke.
Then again, all of it might be able to be explained away by the Force.
Or he knows R2 has shit handled, and isn’t concerned.
If you read the Expanded Universe, Han was raised by a Wookiee named Dewlanna.
Except that, prior to that moment in the movie, Luke has always needed C3PO to interpret R2’s beeps and whistles for him. Such as, for instance, when he finds the hologram of Leia, or when R2 is hacking the Death Star’s computer, and finds out that she’s scheduled to be executed.
But there’s a difference between “The prison block is located on level 18” and “Woo-hoo!”. I think Luke could discern that latter just fine.
Well, given that in the previous scene, Luke is told to “Trust the Force”, maybe we can just say “A Jedi did it” and chalk it up to his force sensitivity helping him just sorta gist what R2 is saying.
Come to think about it, a good question (besides “computerized baby noises are cuter” of course ;)) would be : why didn’t they put a basic voicebox into all R2 units, or at least some sort of read-out screen ?
I know Artoo is a very special lil’ droid that’s far from factory specs, but since astromech droids of his kind are made to help with navigation, course plotting, repairs and so on, you’d think a way to communicate with their handler would come handy.
“The hyperdrive is fucked, you moron ! See that torque wrench down there, all melted and fused with the protonic compressor ? Yeah, you dropped that there yesterday, and now the whole engine block is good for the scrapyard. I’m good, but I’m not a magician, you need a new Flux Capacitor. And a new torque wrench.” would be more helpful that “Beee dop twilililili dup”.
Star Wars got something totally backwards, A.I.-wise. In their universe, it’s apparently easy for all machines to understand people, but difficult for machines to speak intelligibly.
In our universe, it’s the other way around.
Great minds think alike! 
That’s about it. Many races are physically incapable of speaking Basic and/or other major languages, but can learn them just fine. Maybe some races like the Hutts could speak other languages if they wanted to, but elect to only speak their own language.
Even in the rest of the movies Luke still couldn’t really understand Artoo.
If you remember too after he departs from Hoth he has to read what Artoo is saying in order to tell him they’re going to Dagobah.
Although given Artoo’s other “voice inflections” he has over the course of the movies (the little quiver he has, the high pitched beeping and the little bounce thing he does at the medal ceremony) there wasn’t any of that present in the scene I said. Really, all the little droid does is beep a couple times
He reads what R2 is saying because:
A) They are in the vacuum of space & sound cannot carry.
B)A broadcast transmission can be intercepted by the Empire
C) There’s a direct computer link anyhow.
Luke can understand him quite well otherwise.