The average person, in any language, probably knows tens of thousands of words. The average person, in any language, probably speaks a few hundred words on any given day. So how many Spanish words should we learn to be able to navigate in the Spanish Speaking World?
If you’ve been reading this blog for long, then you already know the answer to that — It depends on who you ask! So after reading much of the disparate material, I’m going to give you an estimate. If you just want to understand what’s being said to you and be understood when you speak (but not be considered really, really smart), then certainly much less than 1000 words would do it. Many linguists think that 700 or 800 words will easily get you through the daily life of markets, movies and moving vehicles. And over 1000 will keep you in conversations that are about more than finding a room for the night (as long as they’re not about existentialism or the time/space continuum). The more specialized a conversation is, then the more of that specialized vocabulary you’ll need to know. And I’m not talking just rocket science here. Every little aspect of life has its own vocabulary. That’s true no matter what language you’re speaking. Spending some time in the kitchen? In English, you’ll need to know the words colander, sizzle, fry, broil, dice, spice, rice and so many more. Well, in the Spanish speaking kitchen you’ll need to know those same words, except in Spanish of course.
So, guys, think you’ll skip the kitchen and stick to sports? If the only word you know is fútbol (and you think it’s a football), you’re in for a short conversation. But as you become more skilled with Spanish, you’ll find those areas (and those vocabularies) that interest you.
And of course it’s not just about the vocabulary. There’s that pesky grammar. (Subjunctive, oh no!) But for vocabulary, here are a few sites to help you increase your word base.
Vocabulary by Category; Vocabulary by Skill Level; Vocabulary by Frequency; and 1000 Most Common Words.
Tags: Vocabulary1 Comment
Really? Less than 1,000 words for daily life? That’s pretty awesome! Obviously I’d want to go further than that like you say, but it’s pretty encouraging, I don’t feel that far away now! I know maybe 200 words or so.
But… does this include different conjugations of the words?