New Mars Forums

I am English (from England, the land most Americans originally came from) and I hate the English language. I would opt for anything but English. So many nations (not just the Americans, but most countries which speak english, plus parts of the UK, like Birmingham) have butchered, ruined, changed, mixed up the english langauge.
I would go for French, but that language is almost as messed up as English. Same with german. Japanese is a language I love, but would be to complicated for most western Europeans to learn, same with Russian which I also love.
Spanish is just plain confusing (And no-one in the G7 speaks it).
So Italian was my choice, english to learn, good grammar rules, almost modern latin so most Nomenculture doesn't need to be changed, plus it sounds really nice.

And someone said Americans will get to Mars first, frankly i doubt it will be a nation which gets to Mars, it will probably be a Privately funded mission, or an International one, or one funded equally by the G7 + Russia (i'd prefer that one).

But I think Italian would be the perfect language for Mars. Italian, then Japanese, then French which is a beautiul language, if a bit mixed up.

I never thought so many people would reply to this. 

This may seem dumb but - what was wrong with the Zubrin Areogator Calendar (Case for Mars), it seemed more or less adequate - except he said 8 M-Years = 15 Terran Years, but if that adds up to Mars having the equivalent of 684 terran days per year, when it should have the equivalent of 687.

Also, mare year is 668.6 days long - so how would you work out the leap year factor.

I think a 24 month year or more-or-less equal length would be easier tocope with, though, than the fluctuating month lengths of Zubrin (longest month 66 and shortest 46, that is a bit extreme.  ???

But some people are saying starting the Calendar (MY 0) from the moment you land, but it isn't likely you are going to land on the vernal equinox is it, and the vernal equinox is the generally accepted beginning of the Martian Year, right?

So I say, you find out when the next Vernal equinox is, and sart from there. Or start from the Vernal equinox like Zubrin did in 1961, which may be easier, if you can find out when it is, because does it not seem more that a coincidence that it started on January 1st, so someone should find out at least when a definate Vernal Equinos from Mars is/was and work it from that..........ok that was ramblings but you get the point.

Also start from Year one (and use roman numberals for a while anyway, like the French did in their revolution calendar).
We don't need year 0, just go from -1 to 1.

And doesn't a ten day week seem more practical than a seven day week? Perhaps 22 months of thirty days (3 weeks) and a last week of holidays which is 8/9 days long.
(Though I do prefer either a 12 or 24 month year, so the ten day week may be more practical being used with the Zubrin system.)

Tell me what you think. Ok.