Ive had a nagging question for awile ive been having trouble

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Depends on what you mean but you might be able to get by with late Middle english, circa 1400's

It's still different than modern english but you can see the similarities.

Early Modern English started in the 1600's (pic related is 1609) and Modern English is then seen in the late 1700 to 1800s.

>>2285753
There is old english, middle english, and modern english, I think that story canterbury tales was in middle english

>>2285766
those funny looking lowercase f's are pronounced as an s

>>2285753
>be Anglo
>get back in time
>try talking to your ancestors the Anglo-Saxons
>they think you're some Frisian French rapebaby and heem you

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If only there were famous texts written in the English of their day throughout history and you could easily look them up and see if you understand them

>>2285795
there's a matter of pronunciation as well

>>2285753
>What was the beginning of the english language as we know it.
Usually we define the beginning of "English" with the settlement of Germanic Anglo-Saxon peoples in Britain starting in the fifth century.
> Like how far could I go back in time and still speak on a basic level with other "english" speakers?
It would take some getting used to, but I would wager that the average English speaker could travel to the early modern period in the sixteenth century and make do. Once you move into the great vowel shift things get much dicier as there are going to be significant changes to the pronunciation of most of the language.

>>2285766
Early modern English began in the 1500s

>>2285811
>the great vowel shift
?