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[johnslat]

" Lexical facts
May 29th 2013, 16:02 by R.L.G. | NEW YORK

Timekeeper

SEVERAL years ago we mentioned TestYourVocab.com here on the blog. Not long ago, the site reached its two millionth test result, and so the researchers have put together some data:

Most adult native test-takers range from 20,000–35,000 words
Average native test-takers of age 8 already know 10,000 words
Average native test-takers of age 4 already know 5,000 words
Adult native test-takers learn almost 1 new word a day until middle age
Adult test-taker vocabulary growth basically stops at middle age
The most common vocabulary size for foreign test-takers is 4,500 words
Foreign test-takers tend to reach over 10,000 words by living abroad
Foreign test-takers learn 2.5 new words a day while living in an English-speaking country

In a separate post, though, comes a surprising fact: the reading of fiction specifically is as important as reading generally. People who read "lots" and fiction "lots" outscore those who read "lots" but fiction only "somewhat" or "not much". This is because a wider range of vocabulary is typically used in fiction than in non-fiction writing.

And if you're wondering "how accurate can this short test be?" the details of the methodology are quite interesting and clearly explained. So if you haven't tested yourself, do.

Everyone ignored my remark that "bragging in the comments is naff" last time, so go ahead and brag away. "

http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2013/05/vocabulary-size

So, take the test - you have to be honest, though.

http://testyourvocab.com/


Your total vocabulary size is estimated to be:
43,300

Regards,
John
words

[Sashadroogie]

Dear Johnslat

Can't we test favourite words instead?


With Communist greetings

Sasha

[Janiny]

Wish we didn't have to be honest: 36,000.

I used my SAT prefix and root word skills to correctly guess uxoricide. Those who score less than 36,000 probably think it's a condo in the posh part of town.

And yet I am not sure I trust the results. It takes less than five minutes, and I've done more involved tests on Word Dynamo, I think it was, that put my vocab at over 80,000.

(Be sure to click on 'Hard Words' on the score result page to learn the words you didn't know)

[3701 W.119th]

27,600.

I couldn't be confident giving a correct definition for quite a few of the words on section 3.