Timeline for Is one year a realistic timescale to learn an ancient language if every language you knew didn't exist yet?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Oct 28, 2015 at 1:01 | comment | added | Blacklight Shining | Huh! In that case, you'd better memorize multiple pole stars, for use in different time periods. | |
| Oct 28, 2015 at 0:57 | comment | added | Steve Jessop | @BlacklightShining: yes, the period of the precession of the equinoxes is "only" 26k years, so 6000BC is one third of a rotation ago. The pole was on the other side of Draco, something like 30 degrees away from Polaris. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axial_precession#Changing_pole_stars | |
| Oct 27, 2015 at 4:15 | comment | added | Blacklight Shining | @HagenvonEitzen Really? Just a few thousand years throws that off? Ah, well…I'm sure it's still good for making close estimates. Just keep that fact—that it's not as accurate as it is in the present day—in mind. | |
| Oct 26, 2015 at 22:29 | comment | added | Hagen von Eitzen | @BlacklightShining The hint about Polaris on that cheatsheet is not quite correct for timetravellers (such as 6000 years back) due to procession of the Earth axis ... | |
| Oct 26, 2015 at 19:56 | comment | added | Blacklight Shining | “You'll have valuable skills to trade for survival. Math, any kind of hygiene knowledge, accounting, season, astronomy, advanced tool making (if you can make copper or bronze you'll be hugely popular).” — Since you can't take any material items with you, better memorize this cheatsheet. | |
| Oct 26, 2015 at 15:52 | comment | added | glenatron | This also implies, but doesn't quite state, another important element - learning a language is a skill and one can become good at learning languages. If I was going to travel in time I would probably develop that ability as far as possible before I left. | |
| Oct 26, 2015 at 15:12 | comment | added | oxide7 | I like this answer best. It's simple and to the point. The only other thing I'd add is that you'll be fully immersed in this language. Not just taking a college class every few days for a few hours and then going back to speaking English. You won't have anyone to speak to in any other language bu theirs. You'd learn it VERY QUICKLY. | |
| Oct 26, 2015 at 14:12 | history | answered | Green | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
