Just read a strange book (called Shutter island) by Dennis Lehane of Mystic River fame. A couple of characters in post-WW2 America talking about their wartime experience pretty much sum up why translation is possible in a multicultural world:
“You was in sorts of places, huh?â€
“Yeah I was, saw the world. “
“What’d you think of it?â€
“Different languages, same shit.â€