Could you speak in your homeland if you went back to 1300AD?

[Crazy_Ivan80]

't would be rather hard to use Dutch in medieval times as the unified language didn't exist back then. Only myriads of dialects that were related to each other and in where a few bigger ones would be used as some kind of over-arching means of communication between those who travelled. That or french or latin obviously.

that said: people with a good knowledge of their dialect might get by pretty well, especially in the case of the west-flemish dialects. They've been proven to still be rather close to their 13th-14th (even earlier) versions in both spelling (in sofar it's written today) and pronunciation.
Hell, the coastal dialects of flemish even have a decent bit in common with the coastal dialects of England of the same latitude.

[Admiral Yi]

They've been proven to still be rather close to their 13th-14th (even earlier) versions in both spelling (in sofar it's written today) and pronunciation.

How does one prove that the pronounciations are the same?

[Valmy]

How does one prove that the pronounciations are the same?

Well linguists can sometimes do a decent job piecing those together using common mispellings and the like from an era that suggest how they were phonetically said.

[Viking]

I'm Icelandic and we still speak my homeland's language as of 874 (first settlement).

You also think like 874.

And that is how I won Pascal's Wager.

[Razgovory]

How does one prove that the pronounciations are the same?

Well linguists can sometimes do a decent job piecing those together using common mispellings and the like from an era that suggest how they were phonetically said.

Also by studying tapestries and mosaics they  can get down accents pretty well.

[The Brain]

Much information about early life comes from garbage heaps. A not insignifcant amount also returns there.

[Martim Silva]

How does one prove that the pronounciations are the same?

Note that, while one cannot "prove" a pronounciation, there were no grammar rules in the Middle Ages. People just wrote in a way that made the word sound like the ones they heard. You can know the region where a text was written by reading it aloud and hearing how it sounds like.

[alfred russel]

Even if they spoke perfect modern english, I'd probably be to disgusted by the bad breath, messed up teeth from people with no braces, horrible BO, hairy women legs, etc. to communicate.

[Ed Anger]

Even if they spoke perfect modern english, I'd probably be to disgusted by the bad breath, messed up teeth from people with no braces, horrible BO, hairy women legs, etc. to communicate.

Just think of the crabs infested snatch of the era.

[Martim Silva]

I'd probably be to disgusted by the bad breath, messed up teeth from people with no braces, horrible BO, hairy women legs, etc. to communicate.

Actually, people in the Middle Ages bathed quite often (the hate for baths will only become common amongst nobles in the late 16th century and will last until the 18th) and had good teeth, as they lacked harmful foodsuffs.

As for pronunciations, English speakers try saying this aloud fast immediately. Don't pause to think about what you are reading:

Ayeam chillingcold, ee wolld leifer half a coot.

Could you understand it?

[Zanza]

I can't really read medieval German texts (although occasionally I can understand parts), so I assume I would have a hard to time to communicate with people back then. German was not really a unified language by 1300.

[The Brain]

I can't really read medieval German texts (although occasionally I can understand parts), so I assume I would have a hard to time to communicate with people back then. German was not really a unified language by 1300.

Speaking German is simple. You just wave your hands around a lot and add an "a" to every word.

[Admiral Yi]

I am doubleplusgoodcold and would rather have a coat?

I recognize leif from some written work I've read.

[Valmy]

Even if they spoke perfect modern english, I'd probably be to disgusted by the bad breath, messed up teeth from people with no braces, horrible BO, hairy women legs, etc. to communicate.

The people in 1300 actually looked really good, it was only later that century that Small Pox scars became fashionable.

Remember: no sugar to rot their teeth and the population was overwhelmingly under 21 so even without shaving most of the women would be low on body hair

[Syt]

The (reconstructed and rather fictional) version of medieval German is relatively tough in its grammar and vocabulary. Many false friends (as words shifted in meaning) and weird syntax/turn of phrase.

Of course, a unified German language or High German didn't emerge till 18th/19th century, so it would also strongly depend on where in Germany you went back in time.