[General] How many English words are enough for daily writing?

[rodgers white]

At school my English teachers always told me to practice writing using simple words instead of big words. As English learners, we should always put our opinions and ideas forward in a straight way. Maybe three thousand English words will be enough for us to deal with daily routine work or maybe there is a way, a book or a website that can help us learn to write in simple and precise English. Please help me. Many thanks in advance.

 

[tedmc]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

Three thousand words is a lot to write daily. It is like writing an in-depth essay, which would take hours to write.
It is not so much the number of words to write but the frequency of practice that matters. Learners should make it a daily habit or a routine to practise using the language. By practice, I mean all the three language skills viz. reading, writing and speaking, which is not easy in real life when you are not in an English-speaking environment.

 

[teechar]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

By practice, I mean all the three language skills viz. reading, writing and speaking

And how about listening?

 

[Matthew Wai]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/wordlist/english/oxford3000/
http://longmandictionariesusa.com/res/shared/vocab_definitions.pdf
http://www.esldesk.com/vocabulary/words
https://www.usingenglish.com/members/wordlists/index.php?type=group&id=379

I wish I could remember so many words.

Three thousand words is a lot to write daily.

I guess the OP means 'to know' rather than 'to write daily'.

 

[rodgers white]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

“Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words? He thinks I don’t know the ten-dollar words. I know them all right. But there are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I use.”

What is the story behind the above? What can we learn from this?

 

[tedmc]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

OK, back to the question of how many words are enough for daily use, which I misread the meaning.

Do learners do a word count on the number of words they know in the first place? I would say it is an academic exercise which does not help a learner to learn a language. I think you would know where you stand simply from the ease in which you are able to express your ideas in a language and the number of mistakes you make when your written work is sent for correction.

teechar
Yes, the skill of listening of course, is another component of language learning, which is also assessed the IELTS exam.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

[h=2]How many English words are enough in daily writing?[/h]

 

[rodgers white]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

How many English words are enough in daily writing?

I am really sorry for my carelessness. My question is: How many English words are enough for daily writing?

 

[emsr2d2]

I'm still not clear on your question. Do you mean "everyday writing"? Here, "everyday" is an adjective meaning "normal" and would be taken to mean "non-academic". Of course, if you're learning a language it's good to write something in that language every day, and that could be called "daily writing" - a task you undertake daily.

"How many English words are enough ..." is also not clear. Do you want to know how many different words you should use in a day or do you want to know how big your vocabulary needs to be in order to be able to write/communicate in English?

 

[Matthew Wai]

I am really sorry for my carelessness.

Careless mistakes occasionally appear in your posts (and mine too), as you forgot to use a noun rather than an adjective after the possessive below:

I am sorry for my stubborn.

 

[rodgers white]

"How many English words are enough ..." is also not clear. Do you want to know how many different words you should use in a day or do you want to know how big your vocabulary needs to be in order to be able to write/communicate in English?

I mean the latter. That is: How big our vocabulary needs to be in order to be able to write/communicate in English? I just want to know how to write English in a simple and precise way without using all these big or complicated words. I mean that big emotions don't necessarily come from big words. There are older and simpler and better words, and those are the ones I want to use. Maybe three thousand English words will be enough for us or maybe there is a way, a book or a website that can help us learn to write in simple and precise English. Please help me.

 

[rodgers white]

Careless mistakes occasionally appear in your posts (and mine too), as you forgot to use a noun rather than an adjective after the possessive below:

Haha, thank you. I should say 'I am sorry for my stubbornness.'

 

[Matthew Wai]

I should say 'I am sorry for my stubbornness.'

I don't know whether it is a mistake, but I would use the modal perfect 'should have said' because it should refer to the past.

 

[rodgers white]

I don't know whether it is a mistake, but I would use the modal perfect 'should have said' because it should refer to the past.

I don't know, either. Maybe we can ask native speakers for help.

 

[Tdol]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

I am really sorry for my carelessness. My question is: How many English words are enough for daily writing?

Most people only use a few thousand words for their normal needs. However, they do have a much higher recognition of vocab, but you can get through most days with a couple of thousand words.

 

[AirbusA321]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

This is a good site to improve your basic vocabulary, grammar and general knowledge: https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
If I was an English teacher, I'd advise the pupils to read at least 3 random articles per day after school.

 

[emsr2d2]

Re: How many English words is enough in daily writing?

You might be interested in the figures given here:

"... 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"

The quote above was taken from this website but I had trouble getting it to open initially so in case anyone else here can't open it, the relevant information is above.

 

[TheParser]

NOT A TEACHER


Hello, Mr. White:

May I add my two bits?

I notice that you identify yourself as an English teacher.

Therefore, I think that it is fair to say that 3,000 words will NOT be enough for you.

As an educated person, you will no doubt be writing to a variety of people, many of whom are also educated.

You do not want to restrict yourself to 3,000 words.

As you read more, you will naturally pick up more words.

At first, those words will become part of your passive vocabulary (words that you understand the meaning of).

Later, some of those words will become part of your active vocabulary (words that you actually use in speaking and writing).

I suspect that you have already learned some new words by reading the posts in this thread.

There are no "big" words or "small" words. There are only words that are the most appropriate.

For example, instead of saying that he eats in expensive restaurants, there are occasions when you may wish to use high-end or upscale.

The bottom line: In my opinion, you should not tie yourself down to a particular number of words. Just keep reading and listening, and your vocabulary will increase naturally. Then your writing will reflect that natural growth.

 

[rodgers white]

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. English is a beautiful language, which gives me a brand-new view of the world. I love this wonderful communication tool, by which we can better understand each other. As an English teacher, it is my obligation to introduce my students the beauty of English as well as the great benefits it brings to our lives. To become a better me, I have to improve my English skills day by day and try to solve a problem at one time. Thank you again for all your kind advice, which really matters much to me.