Ask Lemmy

Considering the quality of automated translation and voice recognition nowadays, it's going to be really damn tough. Maybe if you learn something extremely rare and extremely different from English (e.g. some African language) that's hard to translate because it's a context-heavy language, but I'd assume that would be pretty hard to learn, too. Best you can hope for is probably to delay them figuring out what you're saying, which might still be enough depending on your plans.

Might as well create your own coded language if you're already putting that much effort in.

I think this depends more on who you are, where you are, and what you're in for.

If you are a dumbass who got put away for stabbing someone who looked at you weird at a bus stop, then you can probably make your plans in plain english. No one cares. You don't have plans. This is obvious, because you knifed a guy for looking at you weird. You got put away in the podunk prison for dumbasses. Sure, they can listen to your calls, and might even do it if they are bored. But mostly the prison is trying to make sure everyone is fed well enough that they don't start a riot.

If you are the head bookkeeper for an organized crime syndicate, on the other hand, you can be sure that the FBI will be recording you every time you take a shit, and will have a team of translators ready to translate anything you say, along with slang, jargon, cultural cues, and unusual emphasis.

I recommend people make their own "language(s)." Or code(s) to communicate openly without fear of deciphering (or at least quickly and easily). You don't run the risk of people really being able to translate and understand what you're saying.

Shaka, when the walls fell.

In my country, no.

1. if you are allowed to have conjugal visits - a privilege that has to be earned through time and effort - you have been deemed trustworthy enough to be left alone in a room without surveillance.

2. if you are not yet eligible for conjugal visits, then all your visits and phone call - although not letters for some reason - are monitored by somebody that understands your language. We use either our own personnel or contract it out to actual interpretors. If there is nobody available to translate, you are denied having the visit or phone call.

I'd say that you're best bet is to go the "Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra" route.

Maybe if you're speaking Chruch Slavonic or Sanskrit. Otherwise, no.