How does everyone understand each other?

They use translators (implanted, I think?). I believe there may be a codex entry about it.

I know in ME2 in the conversation with Thane (as a FemShep only?) where he calls you Siha, Shepard says "I think my translator just glitched. What did you call me?)

There is also a joke in ME3 in one of the Blasto movie lines (keep interacting with the movie sign on the Presidium Commons) where one of the characters is coughing up blood and gurgles something, and the Blasto's translator says something like "Untranslateable, vocals obstructed" or something like that; it has been a while since I interacted with the movie sign so I forget the exact line.

But yeah, I think there is a codex entry about it somewhere.

Thanks kotoreffect3 RedCaesar97 and Unicephalon 40-D for the very helpful information. I did not know for example we can interact with the Blasto sign more than once.

KrrKs thanks for the link.

Yeah, when back on the Normandy Shepard's asks Javik how he understands him?  Javik says is because of his Sensory ability.

Indeed. And thanks to the beacons and cipher, I believe Shepard has some understanding of Prothean language too. He can certainly 'see' images as a Prothean can. 

VORCHA NO NEED UNIVERSILLY TRANSLAVER OR INAPPROPRIATE PROTHEAN TOUCHING!

VORCHA HAVE UNIVERSILLY UNDERSTEWD GRAAAGHS AND GRUNTS!!!

Translator technology.

However, this doesn't make any sense within the context of Andromeda.

They put a little yellow fish into everyone's ear.


Nah, Bring Down The Sky added a codex entry.
But yea, the games are not really consistent with that codex entry, just like always in SciFi, all translators are developed by Todd Howard: It just works.

Angara having/developing translator technology to begin with. They have no use for it.

I really wish they would get away from silly out of jail cards like "instant translator implant/portable device". Such a thing is logically impossible anyway, no matter what level of technology a civilization may possess. Often the meaning of a sentence only becomes clear after it has been fully spoken and that means that's the earliest point the translator can get to work, meaning you'd always be lagging one full sentence behind of what's being said at the moment.

An example: in German you can have really long sentences where the verb is the last word (a famous example is Franz Kafka's first sentence of "The Transformation"), so you have to wait out the entire thing before you can start translating. No level of technology can circumvent that problem.

However, Mass Effect very rarely makes aliens actually alien (hanar and elcor come to mind) - most of them are humans with a different paint job and a certain aspect of human culture attached to them. I mean, there's nothing really alien about Turians, they're basically just Sparta in space with cool looks. Almost everyone is bipedal, got two eyes and arms and is relatable to human culture. In this case I suppose it's fine to handwave the "how do they all understand each other" problem.

Oh that's interesting.  Thanks for the reply!