Assessing the number of words learned and remembered in a foreign language is primarily interesting for understanding how far a person has progressed in the “passive” perception of information: texts, speech, films, etc. I suggest you familiarize yourself with several methods that I used, found on the Internet and “homemade”. Below are a couple of tests for assessing vocabulary, a technique for finding important words that have not yet caught on in the brain, several arguments and some links.
Online tests
Of the many word count tests, I liked two. A couple of years ago I came across a fairly simple Test Your Vocabulary. As you go through three screens of words, you check off the ones you (think) you know, and then get an estimate of the total number of words you've learned. Many of my friends complained about its inadequacy - they received a quantity less than “the one about whom I know for sure that he knows worse.” But when passing, there may be a different kind of error - it seems that you know the word, but in fact you have already forgotten. They say that the hand itself reaches out to put a tick next to a word that seems vaguely familiar, so you can subconsciously overestimate your overall score.You know at least 10,500 English word families!
What do my results mean?
In general, there is no minimum vocabulary size. Language ability is related to vocabulary size, so the more words you know, the more you will be able to understand. However, if you want to set a learning goal, Paul Nation's (2006) research suggests that the following sizes might be useful:
How large a vocabulary is needed for reading and listening?
Skill Size estimate Notes
Reading 8,000 - 9,000
word families nation (2006)
Listening 6,000 - 7,000
word families nation (2006)
Native speaker 20,000
word families Goulden, Nation, & Read (1990)
Zechmeister, Chronis, Cull, D'Anna, & Healy (1995)
What is a word family?
There are many different forms of a word, so this test measures your knowledge of the most basic form of a word and assumes that you can recognize the other forms. For example, nation, a noun, can also be an adjective (national), a verb (nationalize), or an adverb (nationally). There are also forms which can be made with an affix such as de- or -ing which also modify the way that the word is used or adds to the basic meaning. For a test of receptive vocabulary knowledge such as this one, word families are considered to be the most accurate way of counting words.
Frequency dictionaries
After registering at www.wordfrequency.info, you can download an Excel version of the American English Frequency Dictionary. There is also a text option.Something like this:
Rank Word Part of speech Frequency Dispersion
1 the - a 22038615 0.98
2 be - v 12545825 0.97
3 and - c 10741073 0.99
4 of - i 10343885 0.97
5 a - a 10144200 0.98
6 in - i 6996437 0.98
7 to - t 6332195 0.98
8 have - v 4303955 0.97
…
…
4996 immigrant - j 0.97
4997 kid - v 5094 0.92
4998 middle-class - j 5025 0.93
4999 apology - n 4972 0.94
5000 till - i 5079 0.92
The file contains 5000 English words, sorted by frequency of occurrence. The frequency was calculated on a huge heterogeneous array of English texts. Recently I saw my friend looking for words he didn't know while checking his lexicon. After looking through the first 500, I didn't find any unknown ones. He showed an extract on his smartphone - about a dozen words from the second thousand (that is, from 1000 to 2000) and about 20 from the third. It's funny that as you go through the list, you come across sequences of words that successfully form phrases or even short sentences. The logic is very simple - if a word is very common according to statistics, and you don’t know it, then it’s better to learn it and look at examples of use.
After reading the list of words unknown to him (already with a translation), I saw the following thing. I knew about 50-60% of these words unknown to him, but some of the meanings of the translations recorded there were unknown to me, there were several words completely unknown to me.
In general, the site is trying to be commercial, they sell lists longer than 5000, but this is no longer so interesting.
So far, this friend of mine is writing a program with a convenient interface for searching unknown words- for training purposes. For a global assessment, I suggested that he use not this list, but a thinned one: every seventh word from a total list of 60,000 words is given. In fact, even viewing the first couple of thousand makes you despondent; not everyone will get to 5000. Although I can’t say 100 percent, a thinned dictionary will probably show at least one word from the “family”, and the time spent will be 7 or 10 times less (depending on the frequency of thinning).
By the way, such frequency dictionaries of the Russian language contain about 160 thousand words, including abbreviations and abbreviations. There are several different similar "corpora" of English words from different organizations.
I'm interested in another question: how accurate are the tests that estimate the number of words you know? It is possible that this could be determined precisely through a check of the frequency dictionary, as well as by comparing the list of selected unknown words - their number and occurrence in different “families”.
Eat general laws remembering and forgetting. One of the main things: if a person has learned something and does not repeat it, does not use it, the information is forgotten exponentially over time. On the other hand, several repetitions lengthen and stretch the falling exponent to an acceptable level. I was very surprised when an acquaintance who worked part-time as a tutor for schoolchildren said that there is a sequence of time intervals for deep memorization: say, after 20 minutes, then after 8 hours, another day, etc., after which the information is firmly implanted in the brain . That is, the brain provides a statistically maximum level of excitation signal when encountering this information.
Ebbinghaus curve, from Wikipedia.
How I learned words at the institute.
Without taking into account the standard course, where the requirements for the first three years were quite strict, I tried to read fiction. First big book there was an old Soviet edition of Conan Doyle " The Lost World". I don’t know how much it was adapted, but there was an abundance of Victorian words and expressions in the text, and this greatly delayed progress towards the end... Of course, you could look into Lingvo from your computer, but I didn’t like to read at the computer, but to run back and forth I quickly got tired of every new word. Tablets were not common then, a pocket electronic translator was an expensive rarity, so I developed a paper system for myself. In a thick 96-sheet notebook, the spread was divided into 6 columns. Now I tried to find the notebook - it was lost. You'll have to describe it in words. Divided the alphabet into groups of letters, for example - a..d, e..f, g..j, k..n, o..q, r..t, u..w, x..z. Approximately, I estimated by eye the statistical percentage of words that begin with these letters and divided the columns in the spread into rectangles. For example, group a..d gave 2/3 of the first column, and so on. Group x..z was assigned the last remaining smallest piece in the 6th column. Then everything is simple. If you come across an unknown word, write it in the correct rectangle with its translation. Nothing inside the block is not in alphabetical order - it won't take long to find. To get a translation while lying on your bed, you need to look into a book dictionary. That is, the value of receiving a translation is quite large, more than now looking at Lingva or an online translator likeThe fact that the language's dictionary contains approximately 300 thousand words is only of theoretical interest for a beginner learning this language. Almost main principle for the reasonable organization of your studies, especially at the initial stage, this is an economy of words. You need to learn to memorize as few words as possible, but do it as best as possible.
Let us emphasize that our approach is directly opposite to the guiding principle of “suggestopedia”, with its emphasis on the abundance of words presented to the student. As you know, in accordance with its canons, a beginner needs to be literally “showered with words.” It is best to give him or her 200 new words every day.
Is there any doubt that any normal person will forget all those numerous words with which he was “showered” using this, so to speak, method - and most likely very soon, in just a few days.
Don't chase too much
It will be much better if at the end of a certain stage of study you know 500 or 1000 words very well than 3000 - but poorly. Don’t let yourself be led into a dead end by teachers who will assure you that you need to first learn a certain number of words in order to “get into the swing of things.” Only you yourself can and must decide whether the vocabulary you have mastered is sufficient for your goals and interests.
Language learning experience shows that about 400 correctly chosen words can cover up to 90 percent of the vocabulary you need for your purposes everyday communication. In order to read, you will need more words, but many of them are only passive. Therefore, with knowledge of 1500 words, you can already understand fairly meaningful texts.
It is better to master the words that are most necessary and important to you than to constantly rush to learn new ones. “He who pursues too much risks missing everything,” says a Swedish proverb. “If you chase two hares, you won’t catch either,” the Russian proverb answers.
Vocabulary in oral speech
Very roughly speaking, about 40 correctly chosen, high-frequency words will cover approximately 50% of word usage in everyday speech in any language;
- 200 words will cover about 80%;
- 300 words - approximately 85%;
- 400 words will cover about 90%;
- Well, 800-1000 words are about 95% of what would need to be said or heard in the most ordinary situation.
Thus, the right vocabulary helps you understand quite a lot with very little effort spent on cramming.
Example: if a total of 1000 words are spoken in an everyday conversation, then 500 of them, that is, 50%, will be covered by the 40 most common high-frequency words.
We emphasize that these percentages, of course, are not the result of exact calculations. They just give the most general concept about how many words you will need to feel confident when entering into a simple dialogue with a native speaker. In any case, there is no doubt that by correctly choosing from 400 to 800 words and remembering them well, you can feel confident in a simple conversation, since they will cover almost 100% of those words that you cannot do without. Of course, under other, less favorable conditions, 400 words will cover only 80% of what you need to know - instead of 90 or 100%.
Reading vocabulary
When reading, having correctly chosen and well remembered about 80 of the most common, most frequent words, you will understand about 50% of a simple text;
- 200 words will cover approximately 60%;
- 300 words - 65%;
- 400 words - 70%;
- 800 words - approximately 80%;
- 1500 - 2000 words - about 90%;
- 3000 - 4000 - 95%;
- and 8,000 words will cover almost 99 percent of the written text.
Example: if you have a text in front of you with a volume of approximately 10 thousand words (this is approximately 40 printed pages), then, having learned the most necessary 400 words in advance, you will understand about 7000 words that are used in this text.
Let us note again that the figures we give are only indicative. Depending on various additional conditions, 50 words will cover up to 50 percent of the written text, but in other cases you will need to learn at least 150 words to get the same result.
Vocabulary: from 400 to 100,000 words
- 400 - 500 words - active vocabulary for language proficiency at a basic (threshold) level.
- 800 - 1000 words - active vocabulary in order to explain yourself; or passive reading vocabulary at a basic level.
- 1500 - 2000 words - an active vocabulary, which is quite enough to ensure everyday communication throughout the day; or passive vocabulary sufficient for confident reading.
- 3000 - 4000 words - in general, enough for almost fluent reading of newspapers or literature in the specialty.
- About 8,000 words - provide complete communication for the average European. There is practically no need to know more words in order to communicate freely both orally and in writing, as well as read literature of any kind.
- 10,000-20,000 words - the active vocabulary of an educated European (in their native language).
- 50,000-100,000 words - the passive vocabulary of an educated European (in their native language).
It should be noted that vocabulary alone does not ensure free communication. At the same time, having mastered 1,500 correctly chosen words, with some additional training, you will be able to communicate almost freely.
As for professional terms, they usually do not present any particular difficulties, since in most cases this is an international vocabulary that is quite easy to master.
When you already know about 1500 words, you can start reading at a fairly decent level. With passive knowledge of 3,000 to 4,000 words, you will be fluent in reading literature in your specialty, at least in those areas where you are confident. In conclusion, we note that, according to calculations carried out by linguists based on a number of languages, the average educated European actively uses about 20,000 words (and half of them are quite rare). In this case, the passive vocabulary is at least 50,000 words. But all this concerns the native language.
Basic vocabulary
In the pedagogical literature you can find the terminological combination “basic vocabulary”. From my point of view, at the maximum level the vocabulary is about 8000 words. It seems to me that it is hardly necessary to learn more words, except perhaps for some special purposes. Eight thousand words will be enough for full communication in any conditions.
When starting to learn a language, it would be wise to spend more short lists. Here are three levels that I have found in practice to provide a good guide for a beginner:
- level A("basic vocabulary"):
400-500 words. They are enough to cover approximately 90% of all word usage in everyday oral communication or about 70% of simple written text;
- level B(“minimum vocabulary”, “mini-level”):
800-1000 words. They are enough to cover approximately 95% of all word usage in everyday oral communication or about 80-85% of written text;
- level B("average vocabulary", "medium level"):
1500-2000 words. They are enough to cover approximately 95-100% of all word usage in everyday oral communication or about 90% of written text.
An example of a good dictionary of basic vocabulary can be considered the dictionary published by E. Klett in Stuttgart, 1971, under the title "Grundwortschatz Deutsch" ("Basic vocabulary fund German language"). It contains 2000 of the most necessary words in each of the selected six languages: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian and Russian.
Eric W. Gunnemark, Swedish polyglot
Hi all! Each language contains a certain number of lexemes. The complete English vocabulary is about 300,000 words. Of course, such a figure will discourage a beginner from learning a foreign language. However, I hasten to reassure you that you will not need to learn all these lexemes, since even educated speakers have an arsenal of approximately 100,000 words. Today we will find out how many English words you need to know to speak English fluently. Minimum vocabulary There are methods of learning English in which students are forced to learn up to 200 words every day. For some, this approach is applicable, but for the majority, these numbers remain incomprehensible, and the words they have learned do not bring them any closer to free communication with native speakers. In my opinion, best organization classes are, on the contrary, saving words, that is, remembering less, but more effectively.
You shouldn’t chase quantity, quality should be your prerogative. It is much better if you know 1000 words by heart than to know 3000-4000 lexemes poorly. Each teacher determines his own minimum required amount lexeme. But only you can decide how many words you need to know so that they are necessary and sufficient to achieve your goals.
Experience shows that a minimum vocabulary of 450 correctly selected lexemes can compensate for about 90% of the vocabulary arsenal necessary for free everyday communication in English. For comfortable English reading, you will need a little more words, but passively. With knowledge of approximately 1600 lexemes, you will be able to navigate freely in literary and journalistic texts.
The famous teacher, polyglot and methodologist E. Gunnemark made calculations of the necessary vocabulary for in English, dividing them into several categories.
So, he calculated that for oral speech It will be enough to learn from 40 to 1000 correctly selected, most frequent words:
- 40 lexemes will cover about 50% of everyday uses in communication
- 200 words will already raise this figure to 80%
- 300 lexical units will add a few more percentages - 85%
- 450 words is almost 90%
- 900-1000 - almost 98% of what you can say or hear in everyday conversation
Please note that these indicators are not exact calculations, but general idea about how many units you need to remember in order to feel confident when communicating with native English speakers. E. Gunnemark The famous polyglot found out that for reading, you will need to select and learn about 80 - 8000 high-frequency words in order to understand ordinary simple text:
- 80 words will help you understand about 50% of the text
- 200 units - 60%
- 400 tokens - will cover about 70%
- 2000 words - approximately 90%
- 8000 lexical units will help you understand written or printed text 100%
Again, these are just indicative numbers. In some cases, you will be able to understand the text knowing only 45 words, while in others you will not have enough knowledge of even 1,000.
Why know 100,000 words?
You may ask, why do we need 100,000 words if only a few thousand are enough to communicate? On the one hand, you are right - this number of lexemes is quite enough for everyday conversations. BUT is the minimum vocabulary. If you want to become a full-fledged, educated member of society who will be able to hold a conversation on any topic that a native English speaker suggests, then you need to constantly increase your vocabulary. 
Rich vocabulary What does a rich vocabulary give:
- 350−700 words - enough for language proficiency at a threshold level
- 800−1200 lexemes - an active arsenal for communication or a passive arsenal for reading at a beginner level
- 1500−2500 units - confident reading or free communication on everyday topics
- 3000−7000 words - free reading of specialized literature and the press
- 8000−9000 lexemes - full oral and written communication, reading any kind of literature
- 10,000−40,000 words - active vocabulary of the native speaker
- 50,000−100,000 units - a passive arsenal of words for an educated English speaker
Thus, for you, as a foreigner, knowing 9,000 English words will be enough to confidently study, work and live among English speakers.
I also note that knowledge of this vocabulary alone does not guarantee you free communication. To be able to speak foreign language, practice and constant training are required, knowledge of basic knowledge of English grammar and syntax.
Regarding international vocabulary and special terms, then you shouldn’t have any particular difficulties here. Since it is enough to check these words once with the term in your native language and remember them.
Core Vocabulary Levels
In pedagogical practice, teachers and linguists distinguish several levels of basic vocabulary, which serve as a guide for beginners. They significantly reduced the huge gradation by creating a list of three main levels:
- Level A- basic vocabulary and phrases - 350 - 500 lexemes. This amount is quite enough to cover about 85-90% of all uses in daily oral conversation or about 70% of simple written text.
- Level B- mini-level or minimum vocabulary and phrase stock - 900 -1000 units. This number is enough to cover approximately 95% of usage in everyday spoken conversation and approximately 85% of simple printed text.
- Level C— media level or average vocabulary arsenal — 1200−2000 words. This amount is enough to compensate for almost 100% of the use of phrases in everyday oral communication or approximately 90% of literary text
According to this gradation, a beginner needs 2,000 words for everyday communication in English. Again, I note that everything is relative, and only you determine for yourself how many English words you need to know. But you shouldn’t overload yourself with a lot of unnecessary information either.
Although the textbooks are aimed at working on expanding vocabulary, it must be said that this is only auxiliary material necessary for learning really useful words and phrases, phraseological units used in Everyday life native speakers. After completing the lesson in the textbook, the most important thing begins - the introduction of new lexical units into your spoken and written speech.
For this we offer several options:
- keeping a diary in English;
- viewing and analysis of videos, films and TV series;
- reading adapted and original literature;
- oral communication in English, correspondence with native speakers.
- By using the best English language textbooks to learn vocabulary, you will be able to progress in your learning much more effectively. It’s not for nothing that they say that it is a poor vocabulary that slows a person down and does not give him the opportunity to advance in learning English.
- Study materials designed to increase your vocabulary will help you work productively with lexical material, which will allow you to better perceive speech by ear. Of course, sometimes we isolate individual words from a rapid stream of speech, but basically the problem lies in a very limited vocabulary.
- Of course, by constantly working on increasing your vocabulary, it will become much easier for you to express your thoughts in English during communication.
Well, now, let’s start reviewing the best textbooks in our opinion, which will gradually help you develop your vocabulary. Let's start with best series textbooks for those who strive to speak like a native speaker - English collocation in use. 
Download the text of the book English Collocations in Use Intermediate in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 7226) .
Download the text of the book English Collocations in Use Advanced in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 3219) .
We have repeatedly emphasized that words must be taught in context, and this textbook is just what you need. Each textbook (depending on the level) contains the most common, so to speak, established phrases.
The textbooks are divided into levels and each contains 60 lessons. These materials are ideal for independent studies on vocabulary development. At the end of each textbook there are keys (answers) to exercises and various tasks.
Download the text of the book English Vocabulary in Use Elementary in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 4510) .
Download the text of the book English Vocabulary in Use Pre-Intermediate and Intermediate in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 4269) .
Download the text of the book English Vocabulary in Use Upper-Intermediate in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 3588) .
Download the text of the book English Vocabulary in Use Advanced in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 2801) .
These materials are suitable for both beginners and those who have been studying English for a long time, but without success.
Test Your Vocabulary textbook series.
The five books in this + Start series are units (lessons) that help you test your vocabulary knowledge by completing various tasks, solving crossword puzzles and so on. While taking the tests, you will have the opportunity to significantly expand your vocabulary.
Download the text of the book Test Your Vocabulary Start in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 2527) .
Download the text of the book Test Your Vocabulary 1 in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1854) .
Download the text of the book Test Your Vocabulary 2 in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1436) .
Download the text of the book Test Your Vocabulary 3 in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1460) .
Download the text of the book Test Your Vocabulary 4 in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1525) .
Download the text of the book Test Your Vocabulary 5 in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1458) .
Key Words for Fluency – interesting series benefits that will help expand your passive vocabulary. Each textbook contains 22 thematic lessons. For each word, the authors of the textbook selected about 10 words, in conjunction with which they are regularly used in real life. Learning basic phrases will help you learn how to use English prepositions in right time and in the right place.
Download the text of the book Key Words for Fluency Pre-Intermediate in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 3295) .
Download the text of the book Key Words for Fluency Intermediate in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 2260) .
Download the text of the book Key Words for Fluency Upper-Intermediate in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 2173) .
4000 Essential English Words– a series of textbooks that is ideal for students with an elementary level of knowledge. With each book the words will become more complex. But the most important thing is that there are no archaisms or rarely used words here. 4000 is not an unfounded statement. Each textbook has 30 lessons, and in each of them, the compilers of the textbook offer 20 new words to English language learners. By completing all the textbooks in this series, you will have learned 3,600 thousand words, plus an additional 400 words from the appendices provided at the end of the textbook.
Download the text of the book 4000 Essential English Words 1 in .pdf format via a direct link (downloads: 3987) .
Download the text of the book 4000 Essential English Words 2 in .pdf format via a direct link (downloads: 1905) .
Download the text of the book 4000 Essential English Words 3 in .pdf format via a direct link (downloads: 1800) .
Download the text of the book 4000 Essential English Words 4 in .pdf format via a direct link (downloads: 1757) .
Download the text of the book 4000 Essential English Words 5 in .pdf format via a direct link (downloads: 1763) .
Download the text of the book 4000 Essential English Words 6 in .pdf format via a direct link (downloads: 1807) .
Among the teaching aids that deserve your attention, it is necessary to include a series of textbooks - English Vocabulary Organizer. You can also study on your own using these manuals. Although there are exercises here that involve oral dialogues with the teacher, this block of tasks can be completed independently. The manual comes with a disk on which various types of exercises are also collected. The textbook itself contains texts with new words and exercises for better memorization.
Download the text of the book English Vocabulary Organizer with key in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 2491) .
For all beginners who want to master English idiomatic expressions and phrasal verbs, we advise you to take a closer look at the textbooks in the series Can you believe it. Here you will find real stories with full explanations and exercises to reinforce the material.
Download the text of the book Can You Believe It? 1: Stories and Idioms from Real Life: 1 Book in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 2933) .
Download the text of the book Can You Believe It? 2: Stories and Idioms from Real Life: 2 Book in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1801) .
Download the text of the book Can You Believe It? 3: Stories and Idioms from Real Life: 3 Book in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1689) .
Since beginners learning English may encounter basic misunderstandings when reading authentic textbooks, we decided to give them several examples of textbooks to expand their vocabulary, written in Russian.
1.Karavanova – 250 phrasal verbs.
The textbook contains 250 of the most common English verbs. The textbook gives 5-7 main verbs and phrasal verbs with them. Then you need to perform many exercises to consolidate the acquired knowledge.
Download the text of the book 250 of the most common English phrasal verbs. Karavanova N.B. in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 2023) .
2.Ilchenko. Phrasal verbs in English.
This manual can be called a completely complete textbook for both beginners and advanced students who are faced with the need to study phrasal verbs. The most important thing is that new phrasal verbs are given in context, which will help you use them correctly in everyday communication or writing essays. And it’s very difficult not to remember them. All information in the manual is divided into thematic blocks and contains the most necessary phrasal verbs for real life.
Download the text of the book Phrasal Verbs in English. Ilchenko V.V. in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1848) .
3.Christ's Nativity "Phrasal verbs in spoken English.
A good guide for students studying such a broad topic as phrasal verbs. But without knowledge of grammar, there is no point in studying this textbook.
Download the text of the book Phrasal Verbs in Spoken English. Christorozhdestvenskaya L.P. in .pdf format via direct link (downloads: 1466) .
4.Another series of textbooks in Russian by Litvinov “Steps to Success.”
Download the text of the book My First 1000 English Words: Memorization Techniques in .pdf format via direct link
Views: 66,162 Title: Best textbooks English language to improve vocabularyThe language is quite difficult. Complex and big story Great Britain resulted in a very large number of words. The Oxford English Dictionary, famous in many circles, contains approximately 600,000 words and expressions. And if you add dialect and slang to this list, then the number of words will exceed 1 million. But do not be afraid of such a large number, because even native speakers do not know all English words. On average, an educated person, a native speaker, knows 12,000-18,000 words. Well, the average UK resident knows 8,000-10,000 words.
How many words do you need to know?
If a person is not a native speaker and does not permanently reside in English speaking country, then it will be almost impossible for him to bring his reserve to the cherished 8000-10000 words. A good target is 4000-5000 words.There is a standard and generally accepted gradation of language. If the number of words studied is in the region of 400-500 words, then the level of proficiency is considered basic. If your active vocabulary is in the range of 800-1000 words, then you can safely communicate on various everyday topics. If such a number refers more to a passive vocabulary, then you can safely read simple texts. The range of 1500-2000 words will allow you to communicate freely all day long. If your vocabulary is 3000-4000 words, then you can easily read the English press or various thematic materials. A vocabulary base of 8,000 languages guarantees fluency in English. With so many words studied, you can freely read any literature or write texts in the language yourself. Those who have more than 8,000 words in their luggage are considered highly educated people learning English.
According to the standard vocabulary base is distributed as follows:
- beginner - 600 words;
- elementary - 1000 words;
- pre-Intermediate - 1500-2000 words;
- intermediate - 2000-3000 words;
- upper-intermediate - 3000-4000 words;
- advanced - 4000-8000 words;
- proficiency - more than 8000 words.
Thanks to this data, you can determine your level of language proficiency and set goals for yourself. But how many words have already been learned? No, you don't need to measure anything with a ruler to do this. Everything is much simpler. There is testing that can determine the number of words studied with an error rate of 10%.
To create this test, 7,000 words were taken from the dictionary. Outdated and rarely used words were removed from there. We also removed words whose meaning could be determined using ordinary logic. As a result, 2 small pages with words remained.