Active and Passive Vocabulary

[Harry Smith]

I read that Shakespeare and Churchill used the widest vocabularies of English writers. ;-)

I had a lecturer at the university who had been teaching me for two years. His active vocabulary was the widest for me. Hr was a kind of "walking dictionary". I was writing down words from dictionaries and asking him. He had always a translation for those words in Armenian. Of course later I found out that he spoke 8 foreign languages fluently.
As to writers they have to have a large vocabulary. By the way you wrote the names of two people who have played an important role in my life. The desire of reading Shakespeare in the original took me to the university.I just wanted to learn English to read English classics in the original. My dream was to become a lawyer. And whenever I have a little free time I like reading speeches of Churchil and Abraham Lincoln. I'm trying to read the speeches of George Bush but sometimes I see mistakes in his speeches. ( Maybe my English is not so good).;-)

 

[Harry Smith]

I can live with that estimate, particularly for the lower end of native speakers. The higher end is anybody's guess. I knew Tony Randall, the actor. He was one of the most well-spoken men I have ever talked with. He was on the usage panel of American Heritage Dictionary. Speaking with him was an endless vocabulary lesson.

A friend of mine, who is teaching at the Moscow Linguistics University, told me that acording to the programme their students have to know 15000 words after graduating from the university. Of course their passive vocabulary can be twice larger. :?:

 

[MikeNewYork]

A friend of mine, who is teaching at the Moscow Linguistics University, told me that acording to the programme their students have to know 15000 words after graduating from the university. Of course their passive vocabulary can be twice larger. :?:

That doesn't surprise me. University students are exposed to entire new vocabularies in various courses and fields. I was trained as a veterinarian. During my training, I picked up thousands of new words in medicine, animal production, genetics, biochemistry, nutrition, physics, biology, etc.

 

[Harry Smith]

That doesn't surprise me. University students are exposed to entire new vocabularies in various courses and fields. I was trained as a veterienatian. During my training, I picked up thoudsands of new words in medicine, animal production, genetics, biochemistry, nutrition, physics, biology, etc.

Are these words still with you?;-)

 

[curmudgeon]

Here's a little vocabulary test. See how you get on

English Vocabulary Tester

 

[Harry Smith]

Here's a little vocabulary test. See how you get on

English Vocabulary Tester

My score isn't very high, a little hidger than college students have. Anyway, thanks for the tester. It helped me much. I'd like to know your score as I'm very interested in native speakers vocabulary. I just want to improve my vocabulary. I'm afraid I can learn far more words.;-)

 

[curmudgeon]

Hi, glad it helped. I score more than 40 in each section which suggests graduate level. I have trouble with the last two columns, there are lots of words there I've never heard of. :lol:

 

[MikeNewYork]

Are these words still with you?;-)

Many of them -- yes. :-D

 

[MikeNewYork]

Hi, glad it helped. I score more than 40 in each section which suggests graduate level. I have trouble with the last two columns, there are lots of words there I've never heard of. :lol:

I was surprised by how many medical terms were on the test. Of course that helped me. :-D

 

[curmudgeon]

Yes, and what appear to be surnames.

 

[Harry Smith]

Hi, glad it helped. I score more than 40 in each section which suggests graduate level. I have trouble with the last two columns, there are lots of words there I've never heard of. :lol:

For me it's much easier to guess the meanings of words in situations. That's why while reading books I hardly ever look up words in the dictionary, only when there are more than three in one passage.;-)

 

[MikeNewYork]

For me it's much easier to guess the meanings of words in situations. That's why while reading books I hardly ever look up words in the dictionary, only when there are more than three in one passage.;-)

I always look up words I don't know when I encounter them. That's how one's vocabulary grows. :-D

 

[Harry Smith]

I always look up words I don't know when I encounter them. That's how one's vocabulary grows. :-D

There is a limit in vocabulary too. It's when you don't need any new words, because you don't use them often. In this case it's better to think of keeping the words in mind you already know.;-)

 

[MikeNewYork]

There is a limit in vocabulary too. It's when you don't need any new words, because you don't use them often. In this case it's better to think of keeping the words in mind you already know.;-)

That can become a self-fulfilling prophecy; one cannot use words one doesn't know.

 

[Avalon]

According to a book entitled English Vocabulary in Use(Michael McCarty and Felicity O´Dell) there are at least 500,000 words in English, Winston Churchill was famous for his particularly large vocabulary,he used 60,000 words in his writing(? what writing?) , the average native English speaker uses 5,000 words in his/her everyday speech and 50 words make up 45% of everything written in English!:rainbowa:

 

[Avalon]

How often would they have to use the word for it to be included in the list? For instance, in Portugal, I once had to buy a hinge. I looked the word up and went and bought one. I can still remember the word years later, but I only ever used it once- would this be included in my vocabulary?

Do you really? What do they call it over there?I wonder if it´s the same over here..;-)

 

[Tdol]

Dobradiça- is it the same? ;-)

 

[Avalon]

Here's a little vocabulary test. See how you get on
English Vocabulary Tester

nice test..thanks for the site..:up:

 

[MikeNewYork]

According to a book entitled English Vocabulary in Use(Michael McCarty and Felicity O´Dell) there are at least 500,000 words in English, Winston Churchill was famous for his particularly large vocabulary,he used 60,000 words in his writing(? what writing?) , the average native English speaker uses 5,000 words in his/her everyday speech and 50 words make up 45% of everything written in English!:rainbowa:

How does the source define "everyday speech"?

 

[Avalon]

:lol: It is !!!