TITLE: Tensors, what should I learn before?
QUESTION [21 upvotes]: Here I will be just posting a simple questions. I know about vectors but now I want to know about tensors. In a physics class I was told that scalars are tensors of rank 0 and vectors are tensors of rank 1. Now what will be a tensor of rank $2,3\ldots$? This is quite tempting.
So my question is: What are the prerequisites I need to learn profoundly before taking up an introductory course on "Tensors"?

REPLY [33 votes]: I would like to suggest a quick shortcut:
Quick Introduction to Tensor Analysis, by Ruslan Sharipov.
This little pdf is self-contained, so you will need no prerequisites to read it. I believe it may well suit your need.