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Test your English vocabulary size

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by Vega222, Oct 3, 2018.

  1. Libertino

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    40,100

    This is actually slightly lower than the last time I took this test, so it tells me I may not have been entirely honest about a word or two that time. :thinking:

    I believe the previous time I may have ticked off a couple words that I had never heard of, but could confidently and accurately guess the meaning of due to my knowledge of Greek and Latin. But that is not what the test is asking you to do!

    Now my score is high because I've been studying English/Literature for years; it comes with the territory. I've made an active effort to learn obscure words and expand my vocabulary.
     
  2. Shorthaul

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    Probable depends on what subjects someone studied or took in school. Or how many different careers they have had. I've had a few jobs with things we would use all the time but outside of that job, no one would ever call them that if they even knew what it was.
     
  3. Lin1

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    Estimated of 35,800 words and I am a non-native speaker.
     
  4. Chiroptera

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    17,400, non-native.

    I recognized some of the words i didn't check and i would probably understand them if i consider the context they are in, but, isolated, i wasn't sure of their meaning and thus i didn't check them.

    @Shorthaul is right, some of these words are very specific. I only know what vibrissae means because of Biology :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:
     
  5. Broccoli

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    I read a lot. When I was a kid I used to get laughed at all the time for mispronouncing words in conversation that I knew because I'd seen them written down but didn't know how to say. It still happens sometimes.
     
  6. Loves books

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    You're right, some of those words were crazy. When I was getting close to the end I came across words I'm pretty sure were made up. I only did so well because I read extensively. I don't think anyone could get all of them.
     
  7. Nightlight

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    12,300

    Non native speaker. Have lived in Canada for 4.5 years. Because I'm in South Korea now, I feel like I'm slowly losing my English skills. Noooooooooooo
     
  8. Nightlight

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    There were words I've seen but didn't know the meaning of. When I see a word I don't know, most of the time I would guess the meaning based on the context.
     
  9. Vega222

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    Wow, How so? How long have you been studying English? I guess you lived in among English speakers for a long time.
     
  10. Lin1

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    I started studying it when I was twelve hated it for a while and then got an interest in it around the age of 14, I actually haven't spent that much time in English-speaking countries. A year and a half top. But I travel a lot so I speak with a lot of English speakers daily and also work in English as I am a translator meaning I read a lot about a lot of sometimes complex topics and constantly have to widen my vocabulary.

    To be honest though quite a few of these words were French so I knew their meaning due to it being my native language. I was quite surprised by how many French words seem to be used in English actually, according to this test.
     
    #30 Lin1, Oct 7, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2018
  11. illbehere

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    I'm a 14 year old native speaker and my score is 17,600.
     
  12. PurrPurr

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    Am I the most illiterate here? :grin:
     
  13. Forlong

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    20,100 and I’m a native english speaker
     
  14. quebec

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    Vega222..... Native English speaker....40,500 words.
    .....David :gay_pride_flag:
     
  15. Vega222

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    How long have you been studying English?

    Actually i'm the most illiterate, I got 5600!
     
  16. Chip

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    One of the secrets can be found in the questions in the test about how much one reads fiction. Good fiction writers use a lot of obscure words that strengthen vocabulary. I have never read as much fiction as I read non-fiction, and I went to a touchy-feely hippie high school that didn't teach the classic literature that most people read in 10th through 12th grade... thus, I'm lacking in some knowledge of literature, which probably impacts my vocabulary. But apparently I have read enough that my score was 31,000.

    Also, keep in mind that the test is probably using some fairly sophisticated algorithmic sampling, and is aimed at a broad sample of the population. So, for example, I didn't see many specialized vocabulary words that would relate to the medical, psychology, or other science fields. Thus, it is possible that the test may skew toward literature-centered vocabulary.
     
  17. CuriousLad

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    Mine is 20,200
    I'm a non-native speaker and it's my third language (they didn't have that option).
    Well it's a bit of a stretch predicting someone's vocabulary with just this test and it wasn't even that comprehensive, or they didn't even try.
    I learnt English reading a LOT of novels and exposure to the internet and Hollywood.
    Also in my country, in what I describe as a 'colonial hangover', fluent English speakers and readers often command more respect in society than those only fluent in one of the 22 vernacular languages. So that may have subconsciously driven me, like most Indians to learn as much as I could, growing up
     
    #37 CuriousLad, Oct 8, 2018
    Last edited: Oct 8, 2018
  18. PurrPurr

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    Oh thank God you're here, I feel a bit better now hhhhh
    2,5 years
     
  19. Vega222

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    You can't be serious! How is that possible? I've been learning since 4-5 years ago!
    How did you do it? Maybe you're living among English speakers?
     
  20. Libertino

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    I think it does skew literary, in the sense that they are words that one might come across if they are a particularly voracious reader. That said, it eschews outright jargon (you don't see words like "anapest", "litotes", and "zeugma", words that are exclusive to the literary world). So I suppose they were trying to avoid getting too technical in any one field. (But then you have words like "meiosis", which can be either literary or biological depending on the context!)