Ensign Hoshi Sato is a young highly sought after exo-linguist who graduated second in her class at Starfleet Academy. Jonathan Archer handpicked her for his crew because 'no one can do what she does so well.' Archer then finds himself traveling from San Francisco to Brazil to convince her to leave her teaching position and board Enterprise weeks ahead of it's original schedule. Like tomorrow. Her first response is a well articulated 'no.' an answer that Archer will not accept. He proceeds by peaking her interest with Earth's first recording of Klingon language. She accepts the challenge, though with reluctance and there are times on board Enterprise when she still wonders if she made the right choice.

Space flight is something Hoshi does not take kindly to and each maneuver the ship makes causes her discomfort. She is claustrophobic in an environmental suit and extremely uneasy around alien species. Captain Archer understands her unease but does not allow her furlough from it, instead he plunges her headfirst into uncomfortable situations. She bites her lip and gets through it just like she did in training. Archer sees Hoshi as becoming a master space traveler and enjoys having her on board.

Hoshi is attuned to the smallest of sound disturbances and can tell when the warp reactors are shifting speed. Her keen ear and sense of language allows her to pick up verbal cues even in the background noise of the comm system quickly and accurately. This has the whole crew coming to her from time to time to decipher odd noises. More than once her ability to do this has saved Enterprise from certain destruction.

She enjoys her job on board Enterprise deciphering alien language and putting together a matrix of it for the universal translator to facilitate fluent conversation between species. She, as well as Archer, knows that a computer will never be as capable as a keen human ear and her position on board is possibly one of the most important. 

Sato has come into her own, faced her fears, and stepped into the Delphic Expanse without question to serve and to protect those she left behind from unthinkable disaster.  She placed her own life on the line for the sake of finding information to save others.  Facing her foes with a courage and stamina that was quite unlike her in the past - even spitting in the eyes of those who where more than willing to kill her for not co-operating.

Her hobbies, like Malcolm Reed, are based on her work. Hoshi finds it relaxing and fun to learn other languages. She speaks fluent Vulcan and is now in the process of learning Denobulan from the ship's Dr. Phlox.

Archer was right; no one can do what she does so well.