As a modern English speaker, how far back in time would I have to go before I became unable to communicate with other English speakers?

by MartianSanta

I've always heard that I would be unable to communicate were I to travel back in time any farther than the 1900's, but the documents that exist from that time are still comprehensible by today's standards. Would I still be able to communicate with contemporary English?

jschooltiger

Hi there, not to discourage further responses but this question gets asked here pretty often! You may be interested in this section of the FAQ on language:

http://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/language#wiki_how_far_back_could_i_go_and_still_communicate.3F

Hope this helps!